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BHMA Minutes October 18 2017Harbor Management Authority Minutes of October 18, 2017 Meeting CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES Board: Harbor Management Authority Date: October 18, 2017 Location: Beverly Public Library -Fogg Room Members Present: Chair Paul Earl, Don Neuman, David Suminsby, Rinus Oosthoek, George Simon, Emily Flaherty, Chris D'Alfonso, Estelle Rand, Rob Dever (Marina Manager) Members Absent: Pat McAleer, Scott Houseman Others Present: Recorder: Brett Bauer Earl calls the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Approval of Minutes Oosthoek notes one correction to the minutes. Neuman motions to approve the September 20, 2017 meeting minutes. Seconded by Neuman. The motion is approved, 7 -0. Plastic Bag Ban Flaherty reports that she has been working with Rand on an ordinance to ban single -use plastic bags in Beverly. There are also plans to produce a movie and banner /public art project as an educational tool if the ordinance passes. Flaherty is requesting the HMA to contribute money to support these two promotional projects. The HMA logo would be shown on the banner as a sponsor. Earl asks about the total cost for the project. Flaherty responds that it is estimated to total $6,000 and she is requesting $1,500 - $2,000 from the HMA. Oosthoek notes that the HMA's relevance to this project is that bags often end up in the water. D'Alfonso adds that they can quickly destroy a boat engine. Suminsby motions to contribute $2,000 from the HMA. Simon seconds the motion. Oosthoek discusses the level of involvement the HMA should have, and suggests contributing $1000 instead. Neuman asks if the contribution can be conditional on the ordinance passing. Suminsby withdraws his motion. Neuman motions to contribute $1,000 from the HMA on the condition that the ordinance passes. Simon seconds the motion. The motion passes 6 -0 with one abstention (Flaherty). Project Updates 1 I Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of October 18, 2017 Meeting Seaport Grant - Pilings Project Dever reports that the project has gone out to bid and the deadline for all proposals is in about one week. Multiple contractors have expressed interest. There is also an option for the installation of larger size pilings which would mean fewer pilings are needed and they would not need to be driven as deep. This could result in some cost savings. Bass River Dredging Neuman spoke with Bourne and there is renewed interest in the mitigation plans for the dredging, primarily on the upper half of the river. But they do not anticipate this renewed interest causing any issues. Neuman is still trying to get on the Mayor's calendar to discuss funding for the dredging. Neuman learned there may be a small amount of money from the State's Office of Housing and Economic Development (Jay Ash's agency), but projects would need to be shovel ready. Neuman adds that if the City supports dredging the upper half of the river, getting funding could be more viable, the project could get started, and National Grid may be more motivated to address their portion of the project. Permits should be re- issued for the entire length of the river by December. Seaport Grant Application - Commercial Area and Public Pier Dever will contact the grant person with the Seaport Council to see if an application is still feasible, and will keep Clausen informed of any news. Bridge Mural Rand reports that the artist still plans to start in early November, but is also still working to locate a cherry picker. Oosthoek suggests the North Shore CDC may have knowledge about how to obtain a cherry picker or how to work around this issue, as they have done multiple murals. Rand can check with them. Gruppe Mural Earl provided the HMA's suggestions for placement of this mural to the City. All agree that this issue is not the HMA's concern. This item will be removed from future agendas and replaced with demolition of the McDonald's Building. Kayak and Paddle Board Racks No updates. Waterfront Master Plan No updates. Congress Street Earl will draft an extension letter to the Community Preservation Committee. Marina Facilities Report 2 1 Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of October 18, 2017 Meeting Earl reports that the numbers for the commercial side look almost identical to last year. Seven customers still have not paid anything. Earl asks what kind of enforcement options do we have? Dever notes that the contracts did go out a month late, and everyone currently at the marina have always paid in the past. Anyone that has not paid has been removed. Neuman and Earl express a desire to have a contract they are comfortable strictly enforcing. Flaherty asks if all the contracts have been returned? She suggests that as long as the contracts has been signed and returned they could still wait for the fees to come in. Dever responds that they have probably not received all the contracts back. Earl reports that the recreational marina looks fine and all fees are paid. Suminsby reports that the Facilities Committee supports bringing rates back from $140 to $150 since the bathrooms are in service. The 5% pre -pay discount will continue. Neuman motions to accept the rates proposed by the Facilities Committee for the 2018 Summer Season Recreational Boat Marina Fees. Oosthoek seconds the motion. The motion is approved, 8 -0. D'Alfonso suggest it might be helpful to provide an explanation that the rates are simply reverting back to the original rates, and will draft a letter to the recreational slip holders for review and approval by HMA. Financials Report The Capital Fund is up by $28,000 to around $400,000. Flaherty notes that there are some questions as to whether HMA money was spent on Green Hill. Councilor Lang had indicated to her that money from the HMA's account had already been spent on this. Earl does not believe this came out of the HMA's budget. This would require the HMA to vote on approval, and the minutes would reflect whether any vote was taken. Neuman, again, raises the question about what financial responsibility the HMA should have for the Harbormaster Building. Oosthoek responds that he views our portion of the use of the building as a gray area. Neuman also asks about the operating expenses (especially utilities) for the marina and how much this is expected to change when the McDonald's Building is shut down. Earl and Dever respond that the decrease in operating expenses should be significant. New Grant Onnortunities Earl suggests that Flaherty look into other potential grant funding sources to supplement the Seaport Council and other currently known sources. Other Initiatives /Announcements 3 1 Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of October 18, 2017 Meeting Dever would like to rebuild the dock underneath the dinghy rack on the recreational marina as it is in bad shape. Neuman suggests that the work could be priced in with the hoist work. Dever expects the cost to be under $5,000. D'Alfonso asks what the situation is with the commercial boat tied up in the transient space. Dever responds that the owner of the vessel is on the waiting list for a spot in the commercial marina. The Harbormaster has responded that the boat is tied up to the public landing and not a transient slip, and it is his discretion to decide whether or not a fee should be charged. While the HMA members feel that a fee should be charged, Dever feels that the Harbormaster's decision not to charge a fee is not out of the norm. Earl will relay the HMA's feeling to the Harbormaster. Earl will invite the City Solicitor (Williams) and City Planner (Clausen) to the November meeting for updates on the Beverly Port Marina and the McDonald's Building. Earl also suggests moving the December meeting and holiday party to either Tuesday, December 12th or Wednesday, December 13th so to avoid conflicts with holiday travel. Adjournment There being no further business before the Harbor Management Authority this evening, Suminsby makes a motion to adjourn. Flaherty seconds. Motion to adjourn approved unanimously (8 -0). The HMA Meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm. 4 1 Page