Harbor Committee – August 7, 2014
HARBOR COMMITTEE, SEDGWICK, MAINE
AUGUST 7, 2014
MEMBERS PRESENT; John Dunbar, Chair, Dennis DeSilvey, Secretary, Bill Sweetland, Aaron Grindal
Selectmen present, Victor Smith, committee representative, Neil Davis
Tom Reilly Excused
Absent, Tom Higgins, not yet sworn in.
Initial discussion centered on the challenge of enforcing the harbor regulations. The history has been that
this task fell to the harbor Committee members interested in enforcing the regulations since the
Harbormaster, Mr. Grant, had made it very clear in the beginning that he would not be the one to enforce the regulations.
It was also pointed out that this has been a challenge especially when the Harbor master has not followed
the regulations in situations such as allowing an Aileron 28 named Milagro and owned by a Mr. Marcus in
Brooksville to sit on one of the harbor masters personal moorings for two years at no charge. This has
denied the town $300 in mooring fees.
Discussion then followed regarding dinghy permits. It was voted that:
1. All dinghies must be permitted
2. Dinghy permits will only be issued to those with paid moorings or moorings in Brooklin.
3. Only one permit per owner.
4. Dinghies must be 12 feet by 5 feet or smaller. Note that the Harbor masters boat is for service matters in the harbor and is not governed by this length limit.
5. Dinghy painters should be 4 feet or less in length.
There was discussion of having a transient area of the dock for short term stays.
Discussion then followed regarding mooring balls having the name of the vessel or the owners name on the ball. This is a current regulation but not enforced. I was also suggested that unmarked moorings would be pulled after two years.
Going forward it was also decided that the mooring and dinghy permits would be colored for each year.
Examples were shown from Blue Hill and a pricing will be obtained from Modern Screen Print in Bangor
who does the stickers for Blue Hill.
John Dunbar them introduced a series of recommendation under the heading of “Will Selectmen
Authorize.”
1. NOTICE- Unidentified ( per ordinance ) moorings may be pulled at the owners expense starting:
August 20 ?
August 30 ?
2. NOTICE-A sign be posted “Dinghy Permit Required for Dock Use.” Violation notices would be placed
in the individual boats. Violating dinghies would be hauled at the owners expense starting:
August 20 ?
August 30 ?
3. Do the Selectmen agree with the moratorium on new non-resident mooring permits as has been voted in multiple times by the Harbor Committee?
Dunbar recommendations continued:
4. Request a diagram of the dock moorings
5. Is it logical for Bill Grant to authorize mooring permits since he does not do much for enforcement?
There was brief discussion of these recommendations and there will be discussion at the next meeting.
There followed a brief discussion have having a transient location on the dock. There was also discussion
of having numbered assigned positions for dinghies on the dock and this was felt to be too difficult to
enforce
An attempt will be made before the next meeting to assign GPS points to the line in the harbor. Victor
Smith indicated that a town meeting for Sedgwick and Brooklin would be needed for ratification of the
line.
Dennis DeSilvey brought up the recommendation that the Selectmen consider appointing a Assistant
Harbor Master who would have the responsibility of enforcing the mooring and dinghy permitting process.
Since the August meeting Duane Ford has been appointed Deputy Harbor Master and will assume the
above duties plus others deemed necessary by the Selectmen to enforce the Harbor regulations.
The meeting was adjourned at 1800
The next meeting will be September 4, 2014 at 1700
Dennis DeSilvey Recording Secretary.