With summer’s warmth waning and boaters thinning out both in and around Mattapoisett Harbor, the harbormaster and his crew, along with the members of the Marine Advisory Board, turned their thoughts to business matters. During the August MAB meeting, Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh floated out several concepts and ideas believed to be needed and possibly essential in maintaining services to the boating public. Some of those were on the September 24 agenda.
Topping the list on this night was a proposal to have mooring inspections done exclusively by a certified inspector versus the property owners. “Self-inspections are still a problem,” McIntosh stated. He said allowing boat owners to do their own inspections tantamounted to a “loss of control” and was especially problematic with vessels utilizing wharf dockage. He said that the town had invested approximately $10,000 in improvements and that, “I’d hate to see things getting changed or complicated by the owners,” referring to the actual equipment.
While there was some debate amongst the MAB that bylaw language changes as proposed by McIntosh were not clear enough, the group, in theory, agreed with his assessment for the need to control inspections and levy appropriate fees.
As he had during the August meeting, McIntosh suggested a fee structure of $100 per year spread over a three-year inspection cycle. The group was unable to reach a consensus on how the bylaw change should read with member Robert Moore offering to meet with McIntosh to achieve a draft that will be presented during their next meeting.
In other matters related to fee structures, McIntosh said he had not yet received revenue numbers from the town accountant’s office. “They haven’t quite closed the books yet,” he said. In the absence of understanding where the retained earning might land, setting fees would wait.
McIntosh did want to clear up a previously made point regarding waterfront enterprise expenses. He said that during the 2020 season his staff numbered eight members, not nine as there had been in 2019. Regarding the harbormaster’s full-time position, he said, “When they hired me that was a 20-percent increase, and there have been a number of projects we’ve worked on.” In a follow-up, he said that payroll had increased from $50,000 to $70,000 when his position was expanded to full time.
McIntosh told the board he had been reviewing fees from other communities and likened Mattapoisett most closely to Dartmouth in terms of size and services but not fees. “Compared to Dartmouth we are way off,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of work done around the wharves, electrical, water, fendering. We need to increase retained earnings,” McIntosh stated, adding that repairs to Long Wharf are also on the horizon.
While McIntosh said grant monies have been sought, more were being perused but needed to be augmented with matching town funds, funds that need to come from fees. “If we don’t increase rates, we’ll be left with deteriorating structures,” he cautioned.
In other matters, McIntosh reported that dredging would begin during the fall and that presently permits are being applied for from various government agencies.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, at 7:00 pm.
Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board
By Marilou Newell