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GOULDSBORO —
With 200 fishermen in town but no public pier,
Gouldsboro has jumped at the chance to build a
town landing in Prospect
Harbor.
Plans for the
120-foot steel-and-concrete pier became official
at a special town meeting Sept. 29 when a
roomful of fishermen and other residents voted
in favor of spending $150,000 of town surplus
money to match a federal grant. If all goes as
planned, the pier will be built next summer on
land donated to the town by Connors Bros., which
runs the sardine cannery in town.
Gouldsboro Town
Manager Brad Vassey opened the meeting by
explaining the need for a public landing. “The
idea is for Prospect
Harbor to remain a place for commercial fishing — not a yacht club.”
Maine’s working
waterfront is quickly disappearing. As of 2000,
working waterfronts made up only 25 miles of
Maine’s 7,000 miles of tidal shore land. As
Maine has become an increasingly popular tourist
destination and vacation home site; commercial
access to the shore has become more and more
limited. Municipal piers are crowded with
recreational boaters, no trespassing signs block
access to clam flats, and working wharves have
been torn down and replaced with summer
cottages.
Gouldsboro sees
the new pier as a way to ensure commercial
access to the waterfront.
“There are
communities up and down the coast of
Maine — communities with no
public access to the shore,” Selectman Dana Rice
told the crowd. “Those communities would die
for a golden opportunity like this. It will
benefit the town long after the generation
sitting in this room is dead and buried.”
The public
landing proposal was met with little opposition,
but because of its significant expense, a
thorough explanation of all the project
particulars was given.
With four
distinct fishing harbors in Gouldsboro, there
was some question about why Prospect
Harbor was chosen as the place for a town landing.
According to
Vassey, Prospect
Harbor is the site of the town’s municipal offices, the library and the women’s
club, and represents “the closest thing
Gouldsboro has to a town center.” Vassey also
reminded the crowd of the significance of
Connors Bros.’ charitable gesture.
In support of
the donation, Selectman James Watson said: “The
land was given to us. To not accept it would be
like looking a gift horse in the mouth.”
Before the vote,
Vassey went through a laundry list of possible
questions and offered answers.
“How much will
security cost? Constables already drive by.
Electricity? There are 23 streetlights in
Gouldsboro; they cost the town about $17 a
month.
“Maintenance?
The pier will be built of steel and concrete, it
will require little maintenance.
“Will it benefit
only fishermen? Fishermen account for 50 to 60
percent of the income of the town. It’s an
important commercial activity. But this is a
public facility for recreational boaters, as
well as fishermen.
“Is it too
expensive? Half of it is paid for with other
people’s money. For something that we can be
proud of and that will last at least 30 years, I
think it would be money well spent.”
With about 90
voters in favor and only two opposed, the
article was accepted as presented. |
