Harbor Advisory Committee To Take Lead on Harbor Maintenance

 Harbor Advisory Committee members want to take the lead developing a punch list of harbor maintenance improvements, with Fish House drains at the top of that list.

Committee members Jackson Schultz and Dana Swanstrom said , the town administrator, encouraged the board's members to identify problems and present them to town officials for resolution.

Harbor problems include unclean beaches and deteriorating pier railings at Fisherman's Beach, the members said.

Jackson said Maylor's research on the advisory committee shows it was formed as an ad hoc group in the 1950s and has no clear charter. As such it is not prevented from spearheading improvement programs.

The committee includes representatives from the Swampscott fishing fleet and the as well as the harbormaster and his assistant and others with an interest in or expertise related to the waterfront.

Jackson said the town adminsitrator recommends that committee representatives meet with the director of , Gino Cresta, to discuss solutions to maintenance problems.

The number one problem, according to several committee members, remains the clogged drains and their smell.

Fisherman Paul Garcelon said every drain in the small rooms on the ground floor, called lockers, are clogged.

He worries that the clogs could result in the Fish House being shut down.

"It's almost a (public) health issue," he said.

The Public Works director said earlier that fixing the drains are important to him and he is considering doing the work in-house, using department crews on a drain replacement project.

Department heads and town panels are putting together capital improvement project requests at this time.

It remains to be seen if funding for drain replacement will be included in the town budget.