The Martha's Vineyard Times

Tisbury plans to revamp mooring fees

March 6, 2013

Tuesday night the Tisbury selectmen continued a waterways regulations hearing they had suspended on February 5, concerning proposed mooring fee increases. Answering questions raised during the earlier discussion, finance director Tim McLean said the town's auditor and counsel advised that, under state law, Tisbury should not be charging different rates for annual moorings for residents and non-residents, as it has done in the past.

The selectmen had originally considered increasing the fees by 20 percent across the board. In light of the requirement for single rate structure, Mr. McLean proposed a revised mooring fee schedule, with several options to align the resident and non-resident fees.

Chairman Tristan Israel and selectmen Jeff Kristal and Jon Snyder voted to send the revised fee schedule to the harbor management committee for approval and to continue the hearing to March 19.

In other business, the selectmen approved Fire Chief John Schilling's request to increase the stipend for non-firefighting activities performed by firefighters from $100 to $120 per eight-hour shift, in keeping with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's reimbursement rate.

The selectmen also set a public hearing at 6 pm on March 19, to consider the possible revocation or suspension of Tom Searle's commercial shellfish permit. Mr. Israel said the hearing is in response to reports of violations by Mr. Searle, in a letter from shellfish constable Danielle Ewart.

The selectmen spent most of the nearly three-hour meeting reviewing draft warrants articles for Tisbury's special town meeting and annual town meeting, both on April 9.

The selectmen now meet at 5:30 pm instead of 5.