Since becoming the Mattapoisett Harbormaster, Jill Simmons has striven to improve the finances of the Waterfront Enterprise Fund and all that that entails. During the March 31 meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board, she continued on that theme.
“In my opinion, it’s a major problem sending bills out on the first of February. They’ve got 60 days to pay, extended another 60 days with a $50 fine … that puts the assignment of moorings too late in the season,” Simmons explained to the board members.
She said that a 30-day cycle with bills being sent out either in October or November would provide adequate time for determining which moorings were paid for and assigned and which moorings would be available to the next person on the waiting list.
Simmons said the way the billing cycle and grace period now works caused her department to have 21 unassigned moorings at the end of September 2015. She suggested that, with the proposed billing changes, those moorings could have been assigned and enjoyed by paying customers.
On the theme of boating fees, Simmons said she had received some calls from customers of the Mattapoisett Boatyard complaining about the increase in mooring and permit fees.
In February, the Board of Selectmen voted to increase boating fees after a multi-year hiatus. The new fee structure sets a sticker fee per foot: $2 per foot for residents; $5 per foot for non-residents; and $1 per foot for senior residents. The mooring fee is set at $60; all-inclusive commercial mooring and sticker fee $200; commercial mooring unused $70; all-inclusive commercial dock/float/sticker fee $210; town slip and timber pier fee all inclusive $50 per foot; skiff fee $150, seniors $75; and small boat fee $50.
Regarding the fee increases for those customers using marina moorings, Chairman John Cornish said, “The boatyards could have absorbed those fees if they wanted….”
The MAB elected to take the billing cycle change under advisement and to check with the town clerk to ensure that it would not overburden her office.
Simmons also reported that she had met with Town Administrator Michael Gagne regarding her suggestion that the town look into parking fees for the parking lot at Railroad Avenue.
She said many cities and towns throughout the area charge parking fees to offset expenses. Gagne had not been in favor of setting fees for parking at that location, she said, with Gagne indicating town residents and their family members use the lot as well as day visitors.
Simmons said that she had also recently met with Jon Connell of Field Engineering and Jen Szabo, the recently hired grant writer for the town, regarding handicap floats for Long Wharf.
Szabo, as Simmons detailed in her written report to the MAB, is charged with writing a grant for approximately $200,000 to the Seaport Economic Council, a grant program of coastal Massachusetts communities.
Although the MAB members were in favor of providing handicap access, they were concerned about the location of the floats on Long Wharf. Mike Church, Jeff Swift, Jack Duff and Cornish all felt that positioning the floats on the windward side of the pier was a recipe for disaster.
“It’s crazy on the windward side,” said Cornish.
In other matters, Cornish reported that the ORR sailing program has begun for the season. He said MattSail would be paying for the high school-based program for the next five years as well as providing all equipment. When asked, he was unsure if plans were in place for funding the program at the end of the five-year term.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board is scheduled for April 28 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell