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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/19/1997 . Fishers Island Harbor Committee MINUTES Friday, September 19th, 1997 at 4:30pm at the Utility Offices Present: Frank Bohlen, Elby Burr, Chippy duPont, Leslie Goss, Dick Hale, Bobsie Macleod, Steve Malinowski, Margie Purnell, Allie Raridon, Bill Ridgway, Scudder Sinclair. Absent: Tom Doherty, Ken Edwards, Jr., Louisa Evans, Tom Johnson NEXT MEETING: April 1998 WINTER PROJECTS: Leslie: Draft internal policy guidance as approved at past meetings Grid Subcommittee: develop vessel classes from existing mooring permits, examine aerial photo and existing mooring plan for purposes of arranging vessels by class at suitable areas . Leslie opened the meeting with a brief overview of Town action on the Harbor Management Plan. She said that now that the Town has approved the policy document and Code amendments to enforce the Plan, the Plan will be incorporated into the Southold Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP) which is nearing completion. Steve Ridler of Department of State Coastal Resources Division continues to work with Town Planner Valerie Scopaz and Councilwoman Oliva. A June draft of "Reach 10 -- Fishers Island" will be circulated to the Committee with the Minutes. Send any comments to Leslie. Dick Hale provided a brief overview of the 1997 summer boating season. He stated that no Boating Safety Course was offered this summer. He was uncertain about whether materials had been provided to Tom Doherty by Don Dzenkowski to instruct the course. Leslie mentioned a course conducted at Spicer's Noank at 8:00am on Sunday mornings. Chippy mentioned that this was a CT boat operator licensing course. He mentioned that there is a similar course offered over two days by the Essex Yacht Club in the spring. Dick mentioned that patrols were quiet other than the occasional commercial vessel speeding and the occasional raft poking around inner West Harbor. Elby mentioned that there was anchoring in the east mooring field in the vicinity of the former Jenssen mooring. Bobsie and Steve reported anchoring in Hay Harbor but not overnight. Bobsie also noted boat people on. Stony Beach. Margie reported evening cookouts and volleyball games on the beach along the 8th fairway at the Fishers Island Club. There were no complaints of jetskiis although Scudder noted them cruising in inner West Harbor and Leslie had heard reports of a lot of activity off of Isabella and Chocomount beaches. Dick mentioned that he was aware of one instance when transient mooring users were denied showers at the Yacht ClublMarina. There was question whether the Yacht Club/Marina showers were open at all this summer as most shower activity seemed to be over at the Mobil facility. It was reported that the Yacht Club/Marina did provide limited trash disposal and Mobil did not. , . A Committee member asked if 5 was a suitable number of transient moorings. It was reported that as many as 10 could have been used during August weekends and over July 4th. During these times, vessel s would raft on the moorings. The Committee agreed that the need does not exist to expand the number of transient moorings. A discussion of instructional signage in West Harbor took place. It was determined that using the . fairway or channel marks to support wake and speed regulations does not work because of coloring and illegibility. Chippyand Dick of Pirate's Cove Marine, which currently manages these markers for the Town, said they would ask the Town for an instructional "float". Leslie asked that reflector tape be put on such a float to avoid night collision. Frank presented a request from Gordon Murphy on the Yacht Club board for a copy of the mooring list early in the season. Leslie mentioned that Commodore Sarah Rose has been provided with that list in May in the past. Another Yacht Club director was concerned about the number of Mooring steaks still in West Harbor well after the boating season was under way. In meetings held in November 1994 and July and October of 1995, the Committee had determined that June 1st was the final date for replacing mooring steaks with balls. It was agreed that next year, letters would be sent to permittees in mid to late June reminding them to put out mooring balls or be subject to Bay Constables pulling their tackle. Gordon Murphy was also curious about Committee policy on empty moorings. This led to Committee review of earlier policy on this issue. There is concern over "hoarding" of moorings as the perception of limited mooring space moves through the boating community. Permittees without vessels on their moorings are reluctant to give up their vacant mooring for fear of not being able to get one in the future. Committee policy developed in October 1994 stated "no boat, no mooring" or that the vessel listed on the application should be the same as the one on the mooring. However, the last two seasons, permits have been issued to permittees who have left the mooring vacant for a number of different reasons. It was suggested that vacant moorings be reviewed on a case by case basis due to the complexities of hauling/setting tackle. However, the Committee agreed to adhere to the earlier policy of not issuing mooring permits unless the permittee plans to . have a vessel on the mooring during that boating season. There was question about when the 1997 mooring application solicitation was mailed out in 1997. The target date for mailing is January 31st of each year in order to receive returned applications in a timely fashion for processing. There was question whether or not Fishers Island Bay Constables maintain a log of their patrols. It was requested that both Dick and Tom's log be provided to Committee members for review. There was a brief discussion about removing the mooring paperwork duties from the job description of the Head Bay Constable and establishing the position of Committee Clerk to handle Committee Minutes, Committee correspondence and mooring paperwork. This proposal first emerged in May 1994. No formal recommendations were proposed and this issue will be taken up again in late November by mail/fax/phone. EIby reported that he and Maureen Davidson of the NYS DEC discussed shellfish closures in West Harbor and the seasonal closure inside a line between Hawk's Nest and Grey Gulls. He felt that if the Committee would provide her with a copy of the Harbor Management Plan, she might consider lifting the seasonal ban. Some Committee members were skeptical but agreed it was a good idea to send Maureen a copy of the Plan. Frank Bohlen initiated the discussion about gridding moorings in West Harbor. He mentioned that two common reasons for gridding a mooring field were commercial pressure or running out of space. The Committee discussed the haphazard growth of vessel classes and number of moorings in West Harbor. Some members felt that West Harbor does not look cluttered and that a grid exercise is premature. Other members disagreed and went on to note several unsafe mooring . situations. The Committee agreed that although a full scale grid survey and resultant mooring . . . repositioning may not be currently necessary, the need does exist for a Subcommittee to arrange existing permitted vessels by class (power/sail, size, live aboard/storage) and to lirrange these classes in suitable areas (such as all IODs at one location) which may involve some mooring repositioning. Frank BoWen, EIby Burr and Chippy duPont agreed to work on the Subcommittee. They each need a copy of the 1997 mooring applications file from Tom Doherty and a copy of the aerial photo and scaled mooring plan which Allie Raridon agreed to reproduce. The Subcommittee agreed to report back to the full Committee this winter with findings and recommendations. Frank noted that a full scale survey and repositioning effort can be very costly and said he wou1d research costs of similar efforts in Groton and Noank. Leslie provided an update on NYS DEC progress on the Hay Harbor Shellfish Characterization Study. This led to a discussion of Hay Harbor's flushing characteristics and what information is necessary before making a decision on whether or not to dredge the channel into Hay Harbor. Several Committee members are concerned that increased flushing of the harbor will not restore the harbor habitat. One member stated that the entire Hay Harbor system has been severely stressed in the past by sediment loading from road and yard run-off, septic systems, ele..., and that water quality improvements more recently have,l).ot had the desired effect of restoring the health of the harbor. A suggestion was made that malll1~ing run-off and other "inputs" andRmloving the offending sediments or "vacuuming" the ~lItbor would do more to restore the 1i'eaIth than improving the exchange of waters betw~e\l the sound and the harbor. The meeting adjourned at 6:30pm.