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News/Events - Meeting Minutes

Waterways Commission Meeting
Wednesday, September 8, 2010

MEMBERS PRESENT: John Murphy, Chairperson; Larry Niland; Bill Schmidt; Peter Toppan; Dave Glancy, Keith Walo. ALSO PRESENT: Dick Eckhouse, Howie Kreutzberg, Mary McLaughlin, Fran McMillen, Kieli Storm Dooley, Associate Members; Scott Curreri, Scituate Boat Works; Don Hourihan; Linda Glover; Scott Hamernick; Michael LaRusso; Paul Allard; Jamie Noonan; Chuck Toohey.

1) Chairperson John Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:20 PM at the Scituate Maritime Center, 119 Edward Foster Road.

2) Acceptance of minutes. Mr. Toppan made a MOTION to accept the Minutes of the August 10th, 2010 as written, Mr. Schmidt SECONDED the motion, all voted in favor and the motion passed 6-0.

3) Harbormaster’s report. Mr. Patterson was not present to give the report and Mr. Murphy said he would fill in details during the meeting.

4) Old business
a. Scituate Marine Park update
1) Scituate Boat Works/SMP Parking/Boat storage. Scott Curreri went over the need to move boats into the boatyard as the season ends and concerns that have arisen. Mr. Murphy said that safety concerns and parking are being discussed with the Harbormaster. He said that there was a lot of flooding in the summer storage area during the strong rains a couple of weeks ago, the drainage could not keep up and the resulting potholes have caused some instability in the high traffic area. The rest of the area seems very sturdy. Parking vs boat storage area was discussed. Mr. Curreri said they had 98 boats in storage last year and an additional 15 have signed on and he expects that they will be at capacity (120 vessels). The corner of the boatyard will have to remain clear space for boat storage and an area where things can be easily moved around.
2) Upland park engineering. Mr. Murphy provided some diagrams and drawings of some of the upland area but it is not complete. The diagram is prior to the 25% design but a third of the landscaping project is missing from the drawing. Mr. Eckhouse suggested that working from the RFP would be helpful to assess the scope and expectations, and Mr. Murphy said he would send it out to WWC members. The location of the ADA compliant ramp was discussed; CLE would be asked about this as it is within their area of expertise but there was a question about whether it is within the scope of the project. Mr. Niland made a MOTION that the WWC review the RFP and request additional information from and meet with the engineers; following a discussion the motion was SECONDED by Mr. Schmidt and on a unanimous vote the motion passed 6-0.

b. Scituate Maritime Center
1) Plaques. Kieli Storm said that she has a question about the wording in the center of the plaque and she can lay it out once she has a final list of names. Mr. Murphy suggested sending ideas around by email.
2) SMC Foundation. Mr. Eckhouse said that the building has been rented out 22 times so far, sometimes not at full cost but it has purchased tables, chairs (with plaques of the names of those who donated them thanks to Ms. Storm Dooley), maintenance. The Foundation can rent the building out independently of the Town, $200,000 worth of liability insurance will be needed. Town committees or other organizations that are giving back to the Town will be able to use the building free of charge. The Rotary Club’s phone book has a photo of the SMC on its cover.
3) SMC Winterization. Insulation: Ms. McLaughlin said that the area under the building is badly in need of insulation and if the area gets wet it could get moldy. There was a discussion about what might work. She said that she can do some research about possible options. At the moment plastic sheets are being used and they may need to be replaced if a more permanent solution is not implemented. Further funds have been put aside to pay for winterization and for the plaque.

c. Other business
1) Scituate sailing program. Mr. Noonan said that on September 17 the Friends of Scituate Recreation will hold its golf fundraiser and two boats will hopefully be purchased with the proceeds. He also said that David Ball of the Historical Society has supported moving the boathouse off the road as it is a safety issue for the children who use it, he has a letter from Mr. Ball and he will provide it for the record (attached).
2) Harbor management plan. This will be taken to the State for final approval once some details are tweaked.
3) Jericho ramp improvements. Funding is awaited for this project and the Town will have to be prepared to be first in line when funding becomes available. Mr. Walo said that at minus tide there is no water there and it is a dangerous situation.
4) Jericho ramp use/study. Associate Member Brad White has been working on this but he was unable to attend the meeting this month.
5) Future dredging work. Mr. Murphy said that opportunities and funding for maintenance dredging should be kept in mind and sought as necessary. There was a discussion about an obligation by the new owner of Mad Fish to do additional dredging in exchange for building an additional unit as granted by the Planning Board. It was agreed to follow up on this.
6) James Landing Marina/New ownership. Mike Larusso, a Scituate native and resident, is the new owner and he was at the meeting to introduce himself. He also said that he has a dredging tug and that he will use it to do some work in the Herring River initially.

5) New business.
a. Vice Chairman position. Mr. Toppan made a MOTION to elect Mr. Schmidt as Vice Chairman of the Waterways Commission; Mr. Niland SECONDED the motion and it passed unanimously 6-0.
b. Next meeting: Wednesday October 6.

6) Adjournment: 8:24 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Jean Martin