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A letter from Supervisor Dougherty on Congdons Creek Dock fees

JOHN CLARE PHOTO Dawn, Congdons Creek.
JOHN CLARE PHOTO Dawn, Congdons Creek.

Appropriate revisions
To the Editor:
The Town Board stumbled in raising Congdons Creek docking fees with scant notice, to help pay for Public Works Department 2017 budget requests to upgrade the dock, and then subsequently attempting to lessen the impact for commercial baymen with a lesser increase.

As the letter below indicates, I want to get the word out promptly that baymen should disregard the requirement set forth in our January 27 resolution to go to the DEC in Stony Brook to secure a Shellfish Digger’s Permit and Vessel Endorsement.

We all apologize and my two Town Board colleagues who are liaisons to the WMAC are working on appropriate revisions.

“Dear Wayne and Donna King,
Thank you for your patience Friday afternoon as you quietly sat through 10 public hearings.

And thank you for alerting us to the futility and expense of wasting a day driving up-Island to the Marine Permit Office in the DEC Division of Marine Resources and paying a fee to get an unnecessary Shellfish Digger’s Permit and Vessel Endorsement as the Town Board, in raising the Congdons Creek docking fees, mistakenly required for a reduced increase. My Town Board colleagues who have been working on this, in attempting to meet Public Works Department budget needs with increased Congdons Creek dock fees, are working to put things right.

Your positive attitude gave a lift to all of us. Thanks for coming in and educating us.”
JIM DOUGHERTY
Supervisor, Town of Shelter Island