[Board] IMPORTANT - Pepperell Cove Moorings

[Dan Gingras]

Paul Goldberg and I went to the Kittery Port Authority meeting last night,
and were disappointed in the comments from the Authority members relative to
our moorings.   This issue arose because they thought the Corps of Engineers
had ruled that our moorings were in the Federal Navigation Project ("FNP")
and needed to be removed.  We had previously met with the harbormaster and
showed him the resolution letter from the COE, and he presented this to the
board.   Unfortunately this opened a can of worms   There were several
comments from members, specifically Steve Lawrence indicating that they
thought they should take our moorings.   I did speak about the history, and
clearly indicated that we were in compliance with the COE's regulation as we
were grandfathered.

 

Unfortunately this did not settle the matter, and they have scheduled a
discussion at the next port authority meeting (June 12th) .  I did speak to
the Chairwoman, Kelly Philbrook who indicated that she did not think they
had the authority to simply "take" the moorings, and she didn't think they
had the votes to do so.   I indicated that while we were more than willing
to work with the Port Authority, I had an obligation to take appropriate
action, including legal action, to protect the rights of the members of PYC.

 

I will add this to the agenda for our next meeting, but in the meantime, I
have asked P/C Goldberg and P/C Gebow to begin looking into our options,
including an informal conversation with our lawyer about how to approach the
matter.   I suggest that an appropriate approach would be to ask Dana Bisby,
our Lawer to draft a letter to the Port Authority asking them to specify the
rules or regulations under which they could "seize" our moorings, and to put
them on notice that we are prepared to defend our rights under law to
whatever extent is necessary.    I do not think a "soft" approach will work
at this point.   

 

Former Port Authority chairman Milton Hall was  also in attendance and spoke
in our defense and warned the authority that this matter would likely end up
in court if they tried to act illegally.   

 

Please let me know y our thoughts on this matter and let's discuss it on
Thursday.



Dan

 

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