WRFR Penobscot Bay Report.

This week a return to Rockland's Harbor Management Commission Dec 22, 2022.

Minutes of the November 112222 meeting (jpg) Full text below

When last contemplated early this year, Rockland harbor activists had suffered  a crushing rejection by the Maine Coast of Environmental Protection

SHM.  During its 12/22/22 meeting at the Harbormaster\s office. 

The commission first  discussed the status of Safe Harbor's  expansion plan. This in response to a  question raised in the meeting's  public comments time, by Ron Huber of  WRFR. 

It was noted that SHM's dredging plans for this winter were dropped  due to delays related to the appeal by local community activists of DEP's approval of Safe Harbor's   NRPA and  Site Law  approval  brought  by local community activists appeal to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection 

HMC Meeting Notes November 11/22/22

ln Attendance:

Todd Schwendeman, Richard Whitman, Sam —Harbor Commission (not enough for a quorum)

Kate Clark — Applicant  **   Virginia Noble — Resident

Steve Betts — Courier Gazette  **  Molly Eddy- Harbormaster

Public Comment- Virginia Noble, 40 Mechanic Street, has concerns RE: Scone Goddess food truck inSnow Marine, reviews permit application, states concern for: parking in Snow, marine uses beprioritized, Too much traffic on Mechanic Street already, Would like to see fees for boat ramp increaseto help reduce tax burden on residents, suggests that food trucks should be in Bouy Park Only, pays a premium for water view at her location and doesn't want the view spoiled by a food truck

Scone Goddess Application Discussion: Kate Brings forward potential parking locations (3), with photos and diagrams, discussion ensues. Parking on the green in the middle?  Then everyone else will likely park there- bad for grounds maintenance. +/-'s of 3 proposed sites regarding traffic flow, safety of customers, etc. Richard agrees that rates for launch ramp should be increased, expresses preference for marine uses only in Snow. Kate clarifies "So It's not My food truck that's the issue, it's Any?" which the HMC agrees. 

Molly points out that it's allowed in city code (exactly where is the question).  Todd suggests a limit for Snow in the future and that we approve for a year as a trial run, Sam agrees but have to table discussion because we don't have a quorum.

Other Applications: Me Boats & BH&H Show, Friendship Sloop Society Tabled due to lack of Quorum

Fish Pier: Dredging — 2000 cu yards of loose mud and silt removed so far out of 10000 total cu yards planned. Eric Steele will be surveying once both sides are cleared of mud and silt. Likely won't be able to take the ledge down to the full -9' depth, but aiming for uniform depth ofapprox. -7’ to assist navigation. 

Richard states that should be fine, we discuss that they can't dredge too close to the pier itself without potentially undermining the pier. Discuss rebuilding seawall, moving bait coolers, electrical issues.

Sunk Boat in North End: going through process to declare abandoned. Hopefully will bring to HMC to declare it so next month.

Sunk Boat in Owls Head: Owls Head is managing- might want help with disposal - HMC thinks OH should manage it on their own.

Delinquent Moorings: approx. 30 in harbor- might be a solution to safe harbor displacement? Richard mentions that there's a process for declaring them delinquent as well as a bid process for selling them. 

ACL partnering submittal — Molly will follow up with Tom. Sam is against Emerald Princess: over the 3k limit, Molly wants to ask for an exemption, all present agree, as it's a 30k paycheck for the city. Cruise ship ordinance is functionally a mess, Molly is clarifying it. 

Consider restrictions on ACL dockage so the public can use the dock Fri, Sat, Sun.

Landings Submerged Lands Lease— Landings is within their rights to expand as they have submitted. City intends to enforce lease so that the Landings doesn't expand beyond their lease, thus encroaching on the fish pier.