Jean Perry, Neighb News Correspondent
Despite an agenda packed with seemingly controversial issues, the Fairhaven Marine Resources Advisory Committee on 10/14/21 was proud of itself for “playing nice” as the members quarreled over some topics and then united with a consensus that the land swap with Fairhaven Shipyard and the continuance of parking meters at Hoppy’s Landing might not be in the best interest of the town.
First up, James Malandrinos of Blue Stream Aquaculture asked the committee to consider a recommendation to the Select Board to allow the company to run a wire and feed off the electricity service at Hoppy’s Landing while it seeks to establish its own service with Eversource. Mr. Malandrino said Blue Stream wants electricity service at its location to run a walk-in cooler but has had no progress in its pursuit of approval from Eversource.
Blue Stream proposes covering the cost of running the electrical from Hoppy’s Landing to its nearby site and reimbursing the Town for the entire electric bill for Hoppy’s Landing throughout the months that Blue Stream continues to tap into the building’s electricity. After Eversource approves a separate connection for Blue Stream, Mr. Malandrino said his company would pay for the removal of the electrical tie-in and cover all the expenses of providing the needed 50 amps of power directly from Eversource.
Chairperson Michael McNamara said he was concerned about not having a timeline from Eversource for how long Blue Stream’s connection could take, and Mr. Malandrino had little information to alleviate the chair’s concerns.
“There’s been very little interaction, and [Eversource] rejected the first three applications we made … for what they considered incorrect data,” said Mr. Malandrino, adding that in over six weeks he has not received any further feedback from Eversource and that the installation would be relatively difficult.
Nevertheless, blue Stream is hoping to have electricity come the next summer season.
Committee member Robert “Hoppy” Hobson thanked Mr. Malandrino for all the cleanup work Blue Stream has performed at its aquaculture site and wished them luck with the electricity. Although he supported allowing Blue Stream to tie into the electric at Hoppy’s Landing, he suggested placing a time limit on how long they could do so.
Harbormaster Tim Cox recommended a six-month agreement with the option of the Select Board renewing the agreement every six months.
Mr. Malandrino said he was concerned about the time limit and said that although it sounded “fair and reasonable,” he continued, “I know the headaches I’ve had with Eversource. We call them, we call them, we call them in our community buildings and we don’t get any response.”
He said his fear is that Blue Stream will invest the time and money and then end up without electricity.
After further discussion, the board, including Select Board representative Keith Silvia, voted to recommend that the Select Board offer Blue Stream a six-month agreement to tie in with the option to extend the agreement every six months.
Things heated up during a presentation from Northeast Maritime Institute’s (NMI) David Clement proposing to turn the ground floor of the Hoppy’s Landing building into a community center to promote public maritime education and research, and enhance community outreach.
Mr. Cox said when he first discussed the matter with NMI, “I started to panic there for a minute because I depend on that building for a lot of things, so me and Dave met down there and we discussed it and he wrote up a little proposal,” Mr. Cox said.
He explained that no decision was needed that day, just a kickoff of the conversation.
“I thought about it and I think it’s a great idea to utilize that building a little more,” said Mr. Cox.
NMI’s proposal specifies that any entity that wants to apply to host a maritime educational program at Hoppy’s Landing would have to submit a proposal detailing how the community would benefit from the program, and the committee would get to approve or deny it. Some examples Mr. Clement listed included shellfish initiatives, public school field trips, coastal restoration projects, research, and public aquaculture workshops.
If appropriate, Mr. Clement also said NMI would be willing to provide the Town with a gray shipping container at the west side of the existing building for the Marine Resources department to store its equipment at the site.
“I use that building a lot to store stuff,” said Mr. Cox. “I think what we proposed would work.”
He stated that the building still needs some work and that this would not happen overnight. Significant work has already been done on the building, which he likened to having “put lipstick on a pig.”
The building still needs new shingles, siding, and woodwork, and the building will hopefully be ready for NMI’s proposal next summer.
“This isn’t a project just for [NMI]; this is a project going forward for the Town of Fairhaven,” said Mr. Cox.
Still, Mr. McNamara said he had to ask about the elephant in the room: “Where are they all going to park?”
Mr. Hobson was skeptical. “Are you telling me that you want to let one company use the bottom part of the building?”
No, the chair told him. “It’s more of a community openness for presenting (maritime education and programs),” explained Mr. McNamara.
“But you can’t even put 10 people in that building,” said Mr. Hobson.
Mr. McNamara said it would be like a “walk in, walk out” setup.
Mr. Hobson took issue with the proposed shipping container, saying, “The whole waterfront in Fairhaven is looking like a tenement.”
He was interrupted by Mr. McNamara saying, “Oh, don’t go there, don’t go there… I know where you’re going.”
Mr. Hobson persisted, “I don’t want to see a container next to the building … because people go down there and take pictures of the place. I think containers look ugly.”
Hoppy’s Landing, named after and once owned by Mr. Hobson himself, is becoming increasingly popular, he said.
“You’re already giving the back away to the guy across the street…. You’re piecemealing the place apart.”
Mr. Hobson said he sold the property to the Town for a low price so the Town could own it, people could go there, sit anywhere they want, and if they get out of their cars they have to pay a parking fee.
As Mr. Hobson mentioned parking, Mr. Cox interjected, “So we’re beating a dead horse in the ground here, though.”
Mr. Hobson pointed out that he did not interrupt Mr. Cox when he was speaking, and Mr. Cox apologized.
Mr. Hobson continued, “I’m not too happy with what’s going on down there. You’re giving away the electric, you’re giving away part of the downstairs building, you’re giving away on weekends — they’re parking in the back…”
“But we’re giving it away to the public,” said Mr. McNamara. “It’s a public facility.”
“You beat a dead horse to the ground every time we have a meeting,” Mr. Cox said to Mr. Hobson.
Nonetheless, Mr. Hobson has the right to speak and have an opinion, said Mr. McNamara, and Mr. Cox vowed that despite the disagreements, “We’ll always be friends.”
“If you didn’t do away with the parking, you’d have a ton of money,” Mr. Hobson said to Mr. Cox.
“I didn’t do away with the parking,” Mr. Cox replied, and then the chair shut down the quarrel.
In response to Mr. Hobson’s further questions, Mr. Clement told him, “The idea is to open up that resource to benefit everyone in the town. It’s such a beautiful place, and it’s such a shame that more can’t be done there.”
Mr. McNamara suggested that since this was the first time the topic was discussed among the full board, it should be tabled, allowing for time to digest.
“Mr. Cox inserted some closing remarks: “I would rather see that property used for something like this than a parking lot used across the street for the restaurant.”
Also, perhaps a shipping container isn’t the best option, he added. Committee member Andrew Jones concurred, calling the containers “unsightly” and possibly not allowable within a velocity zone.
“There’s a lot more on that end that I think the applicant should look into,” said Mr. Jones. “Overall, I think it’s a good idea, but it might not be as easy as it sounds right off the bat.”
Mr. Hobson emphasized that he was not dead set against the proposal.
The committee then spent a little time discussing the Town Meeting-approved land swap with Fairhaven Shipyard, with Mr. Hobson reiterating his stance that the swap is not in the best interest of the Town or the townspeople. This prompted Mr. McNamara to suggest that Mr. Hobson should stand on Town Meeting floor and ask Town Meeting to rescind its prior vote to allow the Town to swap its 2,500 square feet for Fairhaven Shipyard’s 900 square feet.
“It sounds like maybe not a fair swap,” said Mr. McNamara.
The committee’s opinion is that the trade has not been made with transparency, and Mr. Hobson blames Town Counsel Tom Crotty more than he blames the Select Board.
“The reality is,” he said. “Nothing of this makes any sense. Why would we give up 2,500 square feet for 900 square feet … but 900 square feet of nothing? It just makes zero sense.”
Mr. McNamara said no one outside the Select Board and Fairhaven Shipyard representatives knows what’s actually involved in the swap and suggested the committee vote to have Mr. Silvia approach the Select Board at its next meeting to request a formal update.
Lastly, the committee voted to allow Mr. Cox to shut down the Hoppy’s Landing parking meter from December through the end of March. According to Mr. Cox, the Town collects about $4,600 in parking revenue via credit card throughout the year but spends about $3,870 in meter fees. Mr. McNamara called it “shocking.”
Mr. Cox said between December and March, the meters only bring in a total of $21, with $0 in January and February. He said that taking the meters offline during those months would help save money, but Mr. McNamara wanted to see a complete financial statement before voting to stop meter use altogether. He said he wanted to know how much the Town receives in cash from the meters first.
Mr. McNamara said it was “jaw-dropping” that the meters could take in about $4,000 in parking via credit card yet expend about 90% of it in usage fees.
“If this was a mistake, we need to recognize that quickly,” said Mr. McNamara. In the meantime, the meters will be shut off December to March.
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