New Island Marine Division boat request: But cost means it might not float

A proposal from Harbormaster Beau Payne to purchase a new boat for use by the Marine Division ran into choppy water at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.

No one objects to the work the Marine Division does to keep the waters safe, but coming up with $172,500 to buy a proposed 24-foot alumium boat that could also be used as a pumpout structure for boats in the area is difficult at a time when people are struggling to keep up with higher taxes, escalating property insurance bills and inflation.

A pumpout boat services other vessels, emptying their sewage tanks into tanks on the pumpout boat, which then disposes the waste properly safely ashore.

Resident Michael Shatken questioned Town Board priorities at a time when so many residents are struggling to pay their bills. He acknowledged that marine safety is important, but the purchase price and ongoing maintenance costs shouldn’t be undertaken now.

Mr. Payne said the current boat is 30 years old, and while its engine is only six years old, the boat really needs to be replaced.

“At the end of the day, everything reaches the end of life,” he said. He estimated that if he got immediate approval to place an order for the boat, it would likely take nine months to a year before the craft could be delivered.

Transferring its engine to a new boat wouldn’t work, Mr. Payne said. Instead, he said the engine would likely be sold with the old boat, fetching much more money than a shell of a boat would get from a buyer.

The Capital Planning/Grants Committee has had grant writer Jennifer Higham Messiano looking for grant money to pay for the purchase. But so far, the likelihood of the Town being able to secure a grant for the purchase seems unlikely, Mr. Payne said.

There’s $209,500 in the coffers of the Waterways Management Advisory Council (WMAC) that is amassed from fees users pay for moorings and permits fees. The money is meant to be used for maintaining or replacing town docks or other water-related structures at town landings.

Councilman Gordon Gooding asked why WMAC money wasn’t used for work to replace the  Congdon Creek dock. There was no clear answer. He further asked if money from the Water Quality Improvement Projects Advisory Board (WQI) could be used toward the purchase of the pumpout equipment.

That money comes from a transfer tax paid by purchasers of Island properties. There have been some changes in how WQI money can be spent, but general agreement was that a pumpout boat, part of the function of a new craft, could come from its coffers.

No one rejected the need for new boat, but Councilman Albert Dickson told Mr. Payne, “I don’t think this is the year.”

The plan right now is to continue to look for grants while getting clear definitions of how WMAC and WQI money might be able to be spent on such a purchase.