HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-08-13 Harbor Committee Minutes
City of Bangor
Harbor Committee Minutes
Meeting: Wednesday August 13, 2008
City Harbormaster’s Office
Committee Members in Attendance: Daniel Cassidy; Robert Woods; Councilor Blanchette
City Staff: Jerry Ledwith, Harbormaster; Jim Ring, City Engineer; Norman Heitmann, City Attorney
Guests: Councilor Peter D’Erico; Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick; Frank Higgins – Brewer City Engineer;
Linda Johns – City of Brewer Planning Director; John Frawley, Retired City Engineer
I July Minutes: Accepted as distributed
II Permitted use of the upper river.
1. The 1990 permit allowing recreational use of the river was reviewed. The most critical article is that
stating : “This permit allows encroachments into inactive portions of the Penobcot River Federal
Navigation Project. In the event that the areas involved are needed to support navigation activities in
the authorized project, this permit shall become invalid…”
i. The interpretation of this article is entirely by the Army Corp of Engineers
ii. The navigational activity that now differs from the time this permit was issued is the
presence of the American Cruise Line.
2. Photos and charts of other Maine ports used by the American Cruise Line were reviewed. These vessels
function safely in limited spaces.
i. This suggests that their safe operation may not require the full 450 foot wide channel of the
Penobscot Navigational Project.
ii. If this is the case, it would support a plan to use some of the space in the upper river to
support recreational uses – if approved by the Army Corps.
iii. It is in the interest of the community to support harbor use for both the American Cruise
Line and recreational activities.
3. Courses of action possible are:
i. Approach the Army Corps with a plan to simply modify the areas of recreational use to
what can be considered “inactive portions”, and exclude them from areas “needed to
support navigational activities”
a. Simplest approach, least costly, would not require the same permitting effort
that was required in 1990
ii. Develop an entirely new permit
a. Costly, will entail more staff time, legal fees, may require a maritime law
attorney.
4. How to proceed
i. Any action would require approval of the Council of both the Cities of Brewer and Bangor.
ii. An approach should be looked at by City Staff. Any action should occur jointly with City
Councilors from both Bangor and Brewer. Perhaps a combined meeting would be
appropriate.
iii. Councilor Blanchette suggested determining what other ports have similar permits that may
serve as precedents.
iv. Preservation of Federal River Services such as winter icebreaking to decrease flooding risk
is important to both city governments. This should not be affected by a permit which still
keeps the full Federal Navigation Project intact. The 1990 permit has not adversely
affected icebreaking.
v. However the Army Corps is approached, all present feel it should be in a positive and
cooperative fashion.
vi. This committee will look to the Council as to how it can facilitate this process.
Other agenda items were tabled until the next meeting