Bristol Harbor Commission approves big marina expansion

New 70-slip marina still requires approval of the town council

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 7/12/18

A long hoped-for expansion of public dock space has cleared another bureaucratic hurdle after the Bristol Harbor Commission met Monday night and recommended to the Bristol Town Council that they move …

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Bristol Harbor Commission approves big marina expansion

New 70-slip marina still requires approval of the town council

Posted

A long hoped-for expansion of public dock space has cleared another bureaucratic hurdle after the Bristol Harbor Commission met Monday night and recommended to the Bristol Town Council that they move forward on a proposed 70-slip marina expansion plan.

The recommendation is a victory for long-frustrated advocates of marina expansion, especially for Bristol resident and Republican candidate for council, Patrick McCarthy. This spring, Mr. McCarthy teamed up with Donald Hemond, a member of the Bristol Capital Projects Commission, to organize BOOM — Build Our Ocean Marina — a group of concerned citizens keen to move forward with the project. According to Mr. McCarthy, BOOM members turned up in force to the Harbor Commission meeting and are very pleased with the result.

In its most recent incarnation, a plan for an expanded town marina dates back to before a November 2016 bond referendum, in which voters approved $17 million for capital projects, including $2 million to build a new public marina, to ease the long waiting list of residents hoping for a public slip.

Following the voter-approved funding for the expansion, with the realization of the project seeming so close at hand, the waiting list actually expanded. It now numbers some 120 hopeful boat-owning residents, some of whom have been waiting for a decade.

At the time he co-founded BOOM, Mr. McCarthy said of the proposed marina, “It’s the only capital project (of those authorized by the 2016 vote) that has not seen the light of day. If this marina had been built by a private venture, it would be in the second or third season by now.”

He added, “I would like to thank Chair [Dom] Franco and Vice-Chair [Jim] Dollins, who started this effort with me, for their unwavering support. I would also like to thank the now-defunct Bristol EDC and former Chairman [Jerry] Dautrieve, for their early support and confidence, and Harbormaster [Greg] Marsili for his yeoman’s work. This is a big win for all Bristol residents: boaters, businesses, taxpayers and jobs!”

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