Walter Wlodyka came before the Chilmark select board Tuesday night to appeal a harbormaster desist order regarding one of his two moorings in Quitsa Pond.
Wlodyka stood accused by harbormaster Ryan Rossi of subletting one of his moorings, which violates town regulations. Wlodyka was ordered to stop renting. Wlodyka appealed Rossi’s order to the select board, but didn’t make much headway. The board sided with the harbormaster. Rossi warned Wlodyka that he jeopardized his mooring if he didn’t hitch his boat to it.
Wlodyka reasoned that while he may have had two of his own boats on his moorings from time to time, “now I only have one, so there’s no sense in the mooring sitting there all summer empty …”
“Basically you’ve been told by the harbormaster, it’s not in the rules and regulations,” select board chair Bill Rossi said.
“Yeah, Ryan said for some reason I couldn’t rent my mooring,” Wlodyka said. “And I’m not in the mooring rental business, but I have two moorings and I only have one boat right now.”
Wlodyka said he planned to build another boat.
Ryan Rossi told the board late in the season last year he discovered Wlodyka had rented one of his moorings. Rossi said he informed Walter’s son that renting was against mooring regulations.
“No private mooring may be rented, sold, or transferred except to a surviving spouse,” Rossi said. “So to me it’s pretty cut-and-dry that they can’t be rented. And I think the reasoning behind that is because there are a lot of people on the waiting list who aren’t allowed to use a mooring.”
The only exceptions, he said, are Susan Murphy and Jonathan Mayhew, who have grandfathered moorings, Rossi said.
Wlodyka said he had the mooring for a long time, and “rented it over the years.” He asked if he too was grandfathered.
Select board member Warren Doty said when the mooring regulations were set, only Murphy and Mayhew were granted grandfather status — immunity from the user regulations.
Rossi pointed out a lot of folks are waiting for moorings. “The waiting list for moorings is currently around 95 … and I keep getting more and more. And the waiting period is about 10 to 15 years. We average about 10 per year in turnover.”
Select board member Jim Malkin, the board harbor liaison, said the harbor advisory committee has taken a by-the-book stance on harbor regulations in an effort to, among other things, ensure “fair and equitable” access to moorings from the waiting list.
“I feel that the rules and regulations are there for Ryan to enforce,” harbor advisory committee chair Jeff Maida said. “And I think if he’s trying to enforce them — keep lists moving and whatnot — I think everybody should support him.”
Wlodyka told the board he didn’t want to lose the mooring. “OK, I won’t rent it, but I’ll get another boat on it,” he said.
“I think that would be allowed if you did that, Walter,” Bill Rossi said.
Ryan Rossi nevertheless stressed regulations require a mooring to be “used and retained,” therefore Wlodyka needed to put a boat on his mooring for the coming season. If not, Rossi said, “you will be in danger of losing it.”
“There will be a boat on it within a week,” Wlodyka said.
“OK, great,” Rossi said. He informed Wlodyka proof of boat ownership will be necessary, and if that’s received, there should be no problems with him keeping the mooring.
The subject didn’t rise to a vote by the board.
In other business, Fire Chief Jeremy Bradshaw informed the board his department had just acquired two thermal imaging cameras, and had also received a Jet Ski as a gilt from longtime fire officer Gary Robinson.
Bradshaw said he’s preparing to empty the station ahead of the demolition expected when and if the $11.1 million station project is approved by Chilmark voters at the annual town meeting on May 24. Bradshaw appeared optimistic the project would pass. As he previously said before the pandemic delayed the station project, he expects the department’s brush truck will be temporarily kept at the DCR garage in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. The other department equipment will be relocated to the North Road station, he said.
“As soon as we get approved for the station,” he said, “I think we’re going to start the process of moving vehicles over there so we can empty this, so we’ll be ready for the abatement on the asbestos …”
The inside of the fire station is clad in asbestos wallboard that must be professionally removed before the building can be demolished. That demolition will pave the way for a new station to be built simultaneously with a new Tri-Town Ambulance headquarters on an adjacent lot — provided voters say yes.
The town will host an information session on the project Thursday at 5 pm.