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BHMA Minutes June 20 2018Harbor Management Authority Minutes of June 20, 2018 Meeting CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES Board: Harbor Management Authority Date: June 20, 2018 Location: Beverly Public Library -Fogg Room Members Present: Chair Paul Earl, Don Neuman, Rinus Oosthoek, George Simon, Larry Herman, Chris D'Alfonso, David Suminsby, Emily Flaherty Members Absent: Pat McAleer, Estelle Rand, David Lang, Rob Dever (Marina Manager) Others Present: Charlie Mann (Open Space Committee) Recorder: Brett Bauer Earl calls the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. Charlie Mann - Appraisal of 10 Green Street Mann is requesting funds for an appraisal of 10 Green Street on behalf of the Open Space and Recreation Committee (OSRC) which is interested in acquiring the parcel to preserve as open space and complete the Green Hill public access path along the Bass River. A new determination was made that the lot is buildable, so a new appraisal is needed based on this determination. CPA funds would be used to purchase the property but cannot be used for an appraisal. The OSRC has been trying to acquire the parcel for many years and are hoping that the increase in value from the newly determined buildable status may make a deal possible. $1,000 is being requested. Neuman expresses concerns about using funds for an appraisal when it is tine et4ain that a deal to purchase the property is not in place. Earl adds that he is not in favor of granting the request, but they could offer to reimburse the OSRC for the funds after a deal to purchase is in place. Flaherty asks if there is any update on the question about HMA funds originally used for Green Hill. Earl responds that he still has not heard back about this. Suminsby notes that they could save $1,000 from the cost of the kayak racks if they forego the custom color option. Neuman motions to not approve the funding request. Seconded by Simon. Earl abstains. The motion is approved by a vote of 4 -3. Annroval of Minutes Oosthoek motions to approve the April 18, 2018 meeting minutes. Seconded by Neuman. The motion is approved, 8 -0. Project Updates 1 I Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of June 20, 2018 Meeting Pilings Project Earl reports that this project is now complete. The Seaport Council has approved 80% of the funding and the HMA's share is $234,000. Earl and Neuman will discuss with the City regarding paying for some of the overage in engineering costs as the money was spent without the HMA's approval. Oosthoek expresses concerns about the HMA's ability to plan for expenses as the HMA's share of this project grew from $100,000 to $234,000. Earl responds that this can mostly be attributed to the engineering costs and that the assumption was that the Seaport Council would cover it. Bass River Dredging Neuman reports that the latest news from Jay Ash is that more money may be available than previously thought for the project, but a 50% match is still required and the application asks that the City Council has approved the funds for this match. Neuman spoke again with the Mayor and Planning Director. Suminsby questions whether Bass Haven Yacht Club would be eligible to contribute some of the matching funds for the upper half of the river or whether the money has to come from the City to qualify for the grant. Neuman responds that it is hard to imagine the Seaport Council would approve a grant to dredge for a private enterprise. Earl notes that the permits are still in place. Oosthoek concludes that this project's fate is now up to those along the Bass River to promote it. Transient Moorings Earl reports that the anchors cannot be moved until July 1 but this project will be completed. Kayak Racks Suminsby reports that approval was received from the Conservation Committee for the kayak racks. The rack location at Dane Street Beach has been moved inland, onto the grass, for security reasons. Earl will arrange for delivery of the racks. Earl asks if use of the racks should be free this year? Oosthoek suggests that users could claim ownership of their space and maybe take sign -ups for next year while giving free use for the remainder of this year. Suminsby feels that it is premature to talk about rates until we know when the racks can be installed. Flaherty asks how many people are on the waiting list for the Water Street kayak rack, and she suggests that the new racks could be filled from this list, and also that the fees could be prorated for the remainder of this season. Commercial Marina Contract Review Earl reports that the City Solicitor made some changes, and HMA corrected some math and number errors. Harbor/Waterfront Master Plan Earl reports that he was interviewed by one of the planning consultants from Harriman. He invited her to an HMA meeting to discuss the project. A planner from Harriman will attend the July meeting at Glover Wharf, along with Planning Director, Aaron Clausen. 2 1 Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of June 20, 2018 Meeting Under the Bridge Mural Work on this project has not yet restarted. Signage Review Flaherty reports that Kevin has indicated an interest in starting a review of signage around the city, but the discussion has not changed or progressed from a year ago. Kevin has indicated that the focus is on park signs and that harbor /waterfront access signage is not a priority. Main Street 2030 Oosthoek reports they are still pursuing a consultant to assist with this process and still hoping it will be the same as the one used for the 2020 plan. Dinghy Float Earl notes that this has still not been repaired /replaced. GW Wi -Fi Project Earl reports that the equipment and materials have been received, and the City is targeting 7/4 for a completion date. Plastic Bags Project Flaherty reports that City Council voted to ban plastic bags effective January 1, 2019. Earl notes that he received an invoice for $1,200, but the HMA had only approved $1,000. Oosthoek motions to pay the total amount of the invoice. Seconded by Herman. The motion is approved, 8- 0. Harbor Fest Earl reports that they are starting to secure food and activities vendors. Simon mentions that this is Beverly's 350th anniversary and asks if they should try to highlight that. Simon will reach out to the Beverly Historical Society. Oosthoek said he can reach out to the new Beverly Chamber director about matching what the organization has contributed in the past. Earl has heard interest in having tours of the new Harbormaster building. Earl will ask the Harbormaster if they can have one person available for 4 hours to allow for this. Earl will split up territories for HMA members to spread the word about the Harbor Fest. Potential Harbor Fest Collaboration with Montserrat College of Art Earl met with representatives from Montserrat about a multi -day art festival under the bridge that they would potentially like to coordinate with Harbor Fest in 2019. This project is part of a grant application for illumination under the bridge. It is envisioned as an art installation designed to draw people to the waterfront. Earl, hearing no objections to this collaboration, will sign a letter of support. Marina Facilities 3 1 Page Harbor Management Authority Minutes of June 20, 2018 Meeting Earl reports that Tracy, an admin. assistant at the Public Works department, has taken over the marina accounting for the Harbormaster. Dever has plans to do a sweep for dinghies on the docks sometime the first week in July. Earl notes that he saw 4 pedestal lights out but asked if someone could check that they are not just shut off. Simon has heard reports that the garbage is overflowing. Earl is still working to get keys to the bathroom for marina customers and learned that there is only one machine to make these keys that is administered by Tracy from the Public Works department. Oosthoek will take the lead in requesting 10 -15 bathroom keys be made to meet immediate needs and to have an inventory. D'Alfonso reports that marina customers are frustrated by how the marina is being managed and the lack of response to issues that are brought up. He asks if the HMA wants to consider hiring a dedicated marina manager as they have done in the past? The consensus is that would currently be beyond the HMA's financial and management capacity but could be revisited in the future. D'Alfonso notes that most other municipal marinas are managed by the Harbormaster. D'Alfonso feels that the current marina manager is not able to provide 20% of his time allocated to managing the marina, but also recognizes that he is stretched thin. Other Initiatives /Items /Announcements Earl will have a conflict with the regular meeting day on Wednesdays coming up and needs to find a new day of the month to meet. He proposes the 2nd or 4th Tuesday of the month starting in August. The consensus is that the 4th Tuesday will work the best. Adjournment There being no further business before the Harbor Management Authority this evening, Suminsby makes a motion to adjourn. Herman seconds. Motion to adjourn approved unanimously (8 -0). The HMA Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. 4 1 Page