The boating season has ended, and the Marion Harbormaster Department has cleared the outer harbor of 5 mile-per-hour markers, so all remaining markers are in the inner harbor, including red and green markers with a couple of rock markers left, it was announced at Monday night’s meeting of the Marion Marine Resources Commission at the Music Hall.
The work of relocating moorings is in progress in Marion Harbor, and department staff went through entire inner harbor. Harbormaster Isaac Perry said they have identified the “more-egregious” permit holders and whittled down to two moorings in order to relocate a small vessel to where a 45-footer was parked. The goal is to permit by March.
“People were overall receptive to it; there’s one holdout that I’ve got to work with,” said Perry. “We’re trying to take it piece by piece, going after the obvious ones.”
The waiting list for a mooring in Marion Harbor is approximately 170 deep. Perry said that smaller boats move up the list more rapidly. Whereas a 40- to 45-foot boat will not get a mooring for 20 or 25 years, vessels measuring under 25 feet tend to move up in approximately 10 years.
Renewals are coming back, Perry said, noting that if applicants miss two subsequent years, they fall off the waiting list.
“We take the additional steps to record all that stuff. … it’s case by case,” he said. “If you intend to stay on the list and pay the back-renewals, I’ll put you back on the list.”
There have been more mooring assignments and relocations than in the past.
“We’re pretty pleased with the movement that we’ve seen on that list,” said Perry, who does not blame Covid or economics for the increase. “A lot of stuff has been moving. Trying to get those larger vessels on moorings that are more suitable. … It’s starting to move, but people are receptive to it.”
In one case, two moorings were swapped, allowing the Harbormaster Department to get rid of a triangle shape; now there are 1.5 acres set aside for anchorage, an area that depending on the size of the vessels, could accommodate four or five boats.
There is a moratorium on new moorings in the outer harbor with a cap of 1,414. Perry estimates there are 995 moorings in Marion’s inner harbor. The outer 350 moorings are spread out in the Aucoot, Planting Island, Blankenship, Weweantic and Wings coves.
Addressing access issues, Perry said a waiting list is up in Wings Cove. He said that 98 moorings were originally permitted there, and he estimates between 45 and 50 boats at present.
Size is apparently not a confining factor at Piney Point, said Perry, where a 60-footer is permitted. “Draft is an issue, but you get some fairly deep water at Piney Point,” he said, noting that Marion or Rochester residents (the latter with an additional sticker requirement) are allowed. “It’s not ideal over there.”
Aucoot Cove, he said, offers no public access and is “all driven by the residents.” Indian Cove, he added, did allow access, “but that’s gone away.”
The department has pumped out 900 boats (and 16,000 gallons), but Perry told the MRC, “It’s really the same boats over and over again. A lot of boats don’t have heads … this is the norm, we’re a little ahead of the game.”
Deputy Harbormaster/Shellfish Officer Adam Murphy reported on maintenance work and the activity of hauling in floats, something he expects to conclude over the next couple of weeks and to “get that pump-out station tied up for the winter.”
Perry is looking to get everything wrapped up and out of the water and all boats off the docks by November 1. That is two weeks sooner than the former out-of-the-water date.
It is already time to begin FY24 budget discussions. Perry anticipates that boat maintenance, which has been outsourced, looms as only significant increase on the horizon. The counter-rotating motor in the patrol boat will be the main expense.
The state Seaport Economic Council application beat the deadline, and a November meeting may yield a result as to whether the new Marine Center will have its final $1,000,000 grant for construction. “We hope to hear sooner rather than later … if so, great, it’s the last piece of the puzzle. If not, then we need to look elsewhere (for the funding),” said Perry.
The Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) Bridge Academy for police-reform training will include 120 hours online and 80 hours in person in Randolph. Bridge Academy training is free, except for material costs estimated at $1,500. Certification is a three-year process after which reserve officers emerge as law-enforcement officers (there is no more full- and part-time distinction.)
Murphy is ahead of Perry in the process and is about to start scheduling in-person classes. The work must be completed by the end of June, but Perry says he wants to get it out of the way by the end of April, certainly in May, as seasonal work for 2023 picks up.
In his Shellfish Management report to the commission, Murphy explained that Tabor Academy has worked with the town to take over propagation, using town’s upweller. “Then students use it with their biology program, so they’re cleaning them and raising them and putting them in bags,” he said, noting that the shellfish is in floating bags in front of the school. “We’ll figure out the best way to get those out.”
The department also reports that there is a lot more recreational fishing going on this year.
New members present at Monday night’s meeting included Cheryl Souza (full member) and Ray Cullum (associate.)
The Marion Marine Resources Commission set its next meeting for Monday, November 21, at 7:00 pm, at the Music Hall.
Marion Marine Resources Commission
By Mick Colageo