It was a meeting of firsts on May 2 for the Boothbay Port Committee involving a request for a recreational float and the sale of half a commercial float.

The committee considered whether or not they were about to set a precedent when property owner John Ryan asked about installing a recreational float. The committee members present, Win Russell, Patricia Seaward and Chuck Fuller, and Boothbay Harbormaster Pete Ripley could think of only one other recreational float in Boothbay, the one at Grimes Cove.

Ryan's proposed float would be north of Sawyer's Island in an area known as Mill Cove, where there is two feet of water at low tide and 12 feet at high tide.

“I think we will be seeing this more and more,”  Ripley said. “We don't have any regulations on recreational floats currently, just for working floats. But he does need a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE).”

Fuller said he didn't have a problem with recreational floats, adding, “If we are going to start down this path, we need to have some ability to control it.”

Russell suggested adding it as a subcategory under working floats in the ordinance.

Once the ACOE receives the permit application, visits the site and gives its recommendations, it will be sent back to the port committee for another review to be sure it doesn't have any issues.

The committee, sans Larry Knapp and Rusty Court, voted unanimously in favor, conditionally,  pending ACOE approval and its concerns.

The committee considered Sarah Plummer's request to sell her half of a 6x20-foot float in Little River for $1,000. The other half of the float in question is owned by Bill O'Rourke.

The sale and purchase of half a float is covered in the town of Boothbay's ordinance, which states the town has right to first refusal.

“I don't think there is a problem with this,” Ripley said. “It is a secured, dual-point float system with a mooring on each end. It is the first time it has come up before the committee, but it is a way to share in the maintenance of a float.”

The purchaser, Michael O'Connell, owns a 28-foot boat. Due to the length of the float, O'Connell recommended the committee approve with the stipulation that boat length may not exceed 28 feet.

The committee discussed the sale price. Seaward read from the ordinance that the purchase price, “shall not exceed one half of the current market fair value of the float, mooring and gear as determined by the harbor master.”

The committee conditionally approved the sale of half of the float pending the approval of the town of Boothbay.

Ripley said he planned to review sale procedures in other similar areas, but where the town doesn't own the floats.

Other announcements

Mooring bills will be mailed after Town Meeting on May 6. There will be a letter along with the bills to people with moorings in congested areas without boats, or if not in congested area with a mooring and no boat it is technically a guest mooring (more money), unless they are waterfront property owners.