CONNECTICUT HARBOR MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING

October 16, 2003 at Branford Ct.

The 2003 Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Harbor Management Association was called to order by President Joel Severance at 5:45 P.M. A quorum was present.

A motion to dispense with reading of the minutes of the 2002 Annual Meeting was, made, seconded and approved. A motion to accept the Minutes of the 2001 Annual Meeting was made, seconded and approved.

Treasure Bob Sammis presented his report. The bank balance on hand as of 9/30/2003 was $5,771.09 and is projected to be about $5,000 after payments for the banquet. A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was made, seconded and approved.

President Joel Severance gave his report. Current issues are:

- Raised Bill 863 concerning boating under the influence. A lot of time and energy was successfully spent getting the wording of the bill corrected with regard to Harbormasters’ authority.

- Cross-Sound utilities.

- Clarification of State Statute 15-154 regarding Harbormasters’ authority.

- Ongoing Harbormaster training.

- Initiate a requirement by the DEP that copies of permit applications be sent to Harbor Commissions concurrently with submission to the DEP.

There was no Harbormasters’ Report since Mike Griffin was chairing the harbormasters meeting.

The report on Associates activity was given by Geoff Steadman. Most of the Associates attention has been on improvements to the federal dredging permit process. He later reported that the Army Corps of Engineers will meet with representatives of the Coastal Management Programs of the New England States to discuss ways to improve the process.

President Severance reported that Mary Von Conta will be stepping down from the Board of Trustees and thanked her for her work and participation. He also reported that Steven Hayes had resigned. A motion was then made, seconded and approved to elect the following Members of the Board of Directors: John Pinto (Norwalk) and Norman Hewitt (Old Lyme).  Joel then noted that Executive Secretary Al Grunow is retiring and that the Board is looking for a successor.

Next was a discussion of a proposed amendment to the By-Laws to add to the Board another harbormaster and another Associate member. This will be voted upon at the next Board meeting. Mike Griffin will be asked to discuss with the harbormasters for their comments.

The next Board meeting will be in January 2004.

The meeting adjourned at 6:05 P.M.

Louis P. Allyn, Secretary

 

The Annual Meeting was followed by the Annual Banquet.

After welcome and remarks by President Severance and comments by Geoff Steadman and Mike Griffin, Joel presented a Special Lifetime Recognition Award plaque to the Harris Russell family which read, “Harris Russell, the former Chairman of the Fairfield/Southport Harbor Management Commission who passed away this summer, served his community with distinction for many years and was instrumental in bringing numerous improvements and public awareness to the harbor, We honor a good friend and dedicated public servant”.

Following dinner there was a panel of speakers who addressed the topic, “Harbor and Shellfish Management:  Solution to Common Issues”. Panelists were:

Harry Yamalis – DEP Shellfish Mapping Project

Lorie Romick, CT Bureau of Aquaculture, Milford

Cori Rose, I.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bedford, MA.

Peter Francis, DEP OLISP, Permitting, Hartford

Bill Kenny, Chairman Fairfield Shellfish Commission