Paid permit likely for Pine Point Pier

SCARBOROUGH — “If you build it, they will come,” is a common mantra to anyone with a dream. But once you build it, who will pay to maintain it?

According to the town of Scarborough, which realized its dream of a new municipal pier at Pine Point this past August – after nine years and $800,000 – maintenance costs should fall to users of the new facility.

An update to the Scarborough’s Coastal Waters and Harbor Ordinance, unveiled at the Jan. 18 Town Council meeting, will require a permit for commercial use of the pier, with a fee that could run as high as $300 per year. It also creates a new seven-member committee to oversee use of the facility, including the establishment of rules to confront “safety issues” that have developed in the five months since it opened to the public.

The new ordinance will get a public hearing at the Feb. 1 council meeting, at which time a vote on final passage is expected.

Although not yet set, the permit fee was deemed “fairly modest” by Town Manager Tom Hall. Harbormaster Dave Corbeau said at a Jan. 10 ordinance committee meeting that Saco charges $300 for commercial fishermen to use its pier.

“I don’t think our fee will be that high, but that’s where we’re at,” he said.

The original Pine Point Pier was built in 1971 to give the 15 local fishermen of that era easier access to the boats. However, by 2002, the working waterfront had grown to 66 full-time users, including deep-sea fishermen, lobstermen and clammers. That many people on a narrow, 100-foot-long pier only usable at low tide gave fisherman a two-hour window each day to load and unload their gear.

The new pier, first proposed in 2002, is more than twice as wide as the original and sturdy enough for a fuel truck to drive out the far end to service boats directly. It also has two jib cranes, each capable of moving one ton of product, to save fishermen the backbreaking work of unloading their cargo.

However, the new amenities come with a price, not the least of which is a mandate from the town’s insurer that all crane users receive certified training. That cost, along with routine and future maintenance of the pier, is expected to far outstrip the $1,000 historically appropriated each year by the council.

“I’ve maybe saved some in the past by bringing my own tools and trying to fix things down there, but I really can’t do that anymore,” said Corbeau, adding that fishermen were advised during planning stages for the new pier that a user fee was in the offing.

“They all were in agreement to pay a user fee, rather than having a taxpayer pay for the maintenance down there,” he said.

Funding for pier construction included a $165,000 Small Harbor Improvement Project grant issued through the Department of Transportation and $252,000 from the Land for Maine’s Future program. But the balance – $400,000 – was borne by local taxpayers, who continue to cover the cost of electricity for lights and crane operation.

Corbeau says more efficient systems mean electricity costs appear to be running at less than the $140 per month the old pier costs.

But it’s not all about money. Oversight also is required.

“Anytime we want to add something down there, that shouldn’t be my decision,” said Corbeau, while stumping for the new committee.

The proposed committee, to include five voting members and two alternates, will be tasked with proposing regulations and polices to the Town Council “for the use of waterways, navigational lanes, anchorage areas, town docking facilities and mooring areas,” not limited to Pine Point, although that is the immediate concern.

“We have safety issues down there,” said Corbeau, referring both to commercial use of the cranes and public use of the pier. Too often, Corbeau says, he’s caught people using the new pier as a diving board.

“You just can’t do that, we have 9-foot tides here,” he said, noting that what looks like fun one moment might prove to be a deadly jump only a few hours later.

Hall says another area of concern is the growing number of houseboats along the northeast coast, including year-round residence.

“That’s something we’d like to get some committee work on: if and when we should regulate that,” he said.

Even so, Hall apologized to the council for suggesting a new committee. Already, Scarborough has 29 committees created through the years by the council, which operate to varying degrees of effectiveness. At an annual goal-setting session earlier this year, the council actually voted to look at disbanding some of existing groups.

“Although we were not thrilled about adding another committee, we saw the real need for this,” said ordinance committee Chairman Carol Rancourt. “I think this committee is going to have an interesting agenda in front of them.”