Former four-term Chilmark select board member Frank Fenner, an owner of the Galley in Menemsha, told the Chilmark select board, both in a letter and via Zoom, that repairs to Boathouse Road are ripe for child rock-throwing opportunities.
Harbormaster Ryan Rossi said that following an agreement between Chilmark and Aquinnah for maintenance of Boathouse Road, pothole repairs were made. In order to fix a spot between the Galley and Chip Vanderhoop’s lot, the area had to be built up. Backfill, gravel hardener, and then “larger cobble” were used to keep the material from washing out, Rossi said.
Rossi went on to say, “We needed to abide by what Aquinnah wanted to do there. They were concerned that the area was going to be too much of a boat launching and recovery area. So the solution that John Keene and I came up with was to put two small boulders in the spot to keep people from using it for launching and recovery of boats, as per Aquinnah’s request.”
Over the past 20 years, Fenner said he rarely saw anybody but locals trying to launch or haul out in a skiff in that spot. Mostly ahead of storms, he said.
Rossi said he understood Fenner’s primary concern was that the larger cobbles could be thrown into the water by kids and others.
“As a solution to that,” Rossi said, “John Keene has offered to come down with a sand hardener mix — to put it down over the larger cobbles and compress it all down so that the material will get down in between the rock and make them difficult to be removed, and therefore won’t be able to be thrown into the water.”
Rossi also said he has also ordered some signs “to notify the public not to throw stones into the harbor in that area.”
Fenner said he appreciated the effort to fix the road. He also said he told Keene his work had “put a lot of ammunition there.” Fenner went on to say, “The kids can’t help themselves. And I can’t blame the kids. That’s what kids do. They go and they throw stones when they go to the beach.”
Fenner said stone throwing was dangerous because of the proximity of boats and people in the area. “And small children, they can throw a stone,” Fenner said. “They can’t aim it. They can’t throw it where they want to throw it. They just wing it.”
Rossi said more sand hardener would be added to the area on an “as-needed basis.”
“It’s not going to last,” Fenner said.
The board took Fenner’s letter and remarks under advisement.
What is next? Regulating the running with scissors? Not making funny faces, with the certainty the look will be permanent? Staying up past bedtime?
The efforts Chilmark has made to prevent children from skipping small rocks into the water are astonishingly bizarre.
I couldn’t agree more then what Frank has brought in his concerns. I have never know that access to the harbor being closed for use by fishermen. Remembering Hurricane Bob when the state road was closed to nonessential vehicles , This harbor’s natural ramp was a God send for many of us who had to pull our boats That early August. As long as I remember This area was a place to access As a launch or quick repair area as it has been for many generations. The Irony of this is… The blockage was put in place the week of the town celebrating the preservation trust for fishermen and by a represtative of that “trust”. Without any input from the fishing community, and as well, in early August during the beginning of the normal hurricane season for this area.
For the older Fishermen it is increasingly harder to use the Town ramp provided by the town because of one has to back down off of the state road. There is so much traffic to navigate while making the maneuver at times.
I think as a community.. decisions like this could of been better handled if more input was made by those also impacted by the decision of one person.
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