Harbor Management Commission

HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION April 24, 2012 MEMBERS PRESENT Alderman Tucker Braddock Alderman Charles Jaskiewicz City Manager Alan Bergren Joanne Philbrick Chairman John Paul Mereen MEMBERS ABSENT Geoffrey Steadman Vice-Chair Richard Benoit OTHERS PRESENT Gerald Martin Jill Brennan-Recording Secretary 1. Call to order – Chairman J.P. Mereen called the April 24, 2012 meeting to order at 5:03 P.M. 2. Determination of Quorum It was determined a quorum was present. 3. Approval of Minutes Minutes of March 27, 2012 meeting-motion to accept T. Braddock, 2nd A. Bergren, motion carried with JP Mereen abstaining due to his absence at the March 27th meeting. 4. Citizen Comment G. Martin commented that he launched his boat at Norwich harbor, went down river and the minimum depth was 11.5 feet during low tide in the channel and he communicated this depth to Dale Plummer. T. Braddock asked what the manner of determining the depth was. G. Martin stated he used a “Lorance” depth-finder. 5. Correspondence a. March Budget Report b. J. P. Mereen read an email that was forwarded from Geoff Steadman complimenting the harbor interpretative panels. Harbor Management Commission April 24, 2012 Page -2- 6. Harbor Master Report-T. Braddock spoke to the LT Governor who stated that they are inundated with appointment requests and this should be resolved in the next two months. 7. Old Business a. Concert Series-all nights are booked-July 4th will not be booked. JP Mereen has received requests from food vendors and is coordinating that. The stage will be in a different location this year. NPU has run a new line for power. Funding is slightly short, but there are leads to cover the shortfall and JP does not feel it is going to be a problem. Hall Communications, the Capanos, Putnam Bank, NPU and Camaro signs have all been major contributors. Vendors are required to have all licenses and permits. JP discussed a charge for vendors to have a spot at the series. He is exploring changing the sponsorship of the series next year from HMC to another entity. b. Council action on the Vision statement-A. Bergren reported that he is going to ask Mike Driscoll contact Geoff Steadman regarding the draft that he has already prepared. T. Braddock mentioned a citizen that would like to submit some changes to the Vision Statement. A. Bergren will direct her to send her suggestions to him and he will forward to G. Steadman. c. Planning for relocation of the boat launch J.P. Mereen has spoken to Jason Vincent regarding the POCD revision. As long as the marina area is used as the main boat launch there are changes that will not be able to be made with respect to economic development. The Shipping Street and Cadle Mill potential launch locations were toured and Jason is going to do an analysis and submit recommendations to J.P. Mereen. Chairman Mereen also has been in contact with a former DEP employee that was directly involved in planning and design of launches and he is willing to assist the HMC in their efforts. J.P. Mereen also would like to explore the launch being owned by the State of Connecticut. J. Philbrick commented that if you want to develop the downtown and you take the fishing traffic out of downtown it does not lend itself to keeping people downtown and doesn’t feel that moving the launch to Shipping Street will spur economic development. G. Martin suggested that if the launch remains as-is that four spaces directly behind the launch be removed to provide more space for people launching their boats with large vehicles. Commission members stated that fishermen would drive their boats up to the harbor and dock and visit downtown to eat, etc. The current boat launch is not user friendly and will not be eligible for state or federal funding or permits. T. Braddock stated that this is a long process that will not happen overnight. Harbor Management Commission April 24, 2012 Page -3- d. River trails map grant application-the application was submitted yesterday and confirmation of receipt was received by the City Manager today. There will also be smaller versions of the map available for people to carry away and for placement in hotels, public places, etc. J.P. feels that there will be a positive result from this application. e. Installation of a “harbor cam”-C. Jaskiewicz stated that it is too late to submit a Sachem Fund application. f. HMC Plan update-G. Steadman is still working on this and should have an update at the next meeting. g. Fundraising idea update-T. Braddock has met with Harve and the cost will be too great. C. Jaskiewicz suggested talking to Yantic Fire as they put on steak and lobster dinners and may have some cost savings ideas. C. Jaskiewicz suggested waiting until after Labor Day when lobster prices drop. More research needs to be done on this matter. h. Website -electronic panel posting -Thayer fishing report link arrangements-T. Braddock has spoken to Richie Thayer and this is in the works. Once the web site is up and running, the HMC should go to a place near the Harbor and have a media night to introduce the website and show off the panels. There will be an icon on the homepage that is easy to locate. Harbor Management Commission April 24, 2012 Page -4- 8. New Business a. WFN Ultimate Fishing Town of 2012 Nomination C. Jaskiewicz stated that the City of Norwich has already been nominated and he would like City agencies and media to go to the site and officially ask people of Norwich to go onto the site www.wfnfishingtown.com and vote for the City and add comments. Sport fishing 365 days a year Shad Bluefish in the Fall Blue-crab 3 rivers that feed into one-at head the Yantic has Bass, Trout, Searuns at Greeneville Dam, Carp and Pike Mohegan Park is also an urban destination for trout fishing One of the few towns that offers a diverse population of species and types of fishing-harbor, Mohegan Park-Spaulding Pond (bullheads, channel cats), bass management area (Taftville Reservoir) Fly fishing, large & small mouth bass Boggy Meadow Reservoir-spotty bass With the winnings the City would install cameras for sportsmen to improve waterways, preserve Voting starts May 1, close date is not specified? 9. Other J. Philbrick asked what the status is on the appointment of the new HMC member. A. Bergren stated that there will be an appointment before the Council at the May 7th meeting. 10. Adjournment Motion to adjourn, T. Braddock, 2nd C. Jaskiewicz, meeting adjourned at 5:52 PM.