Funding questions postpone vote on harbor plan

Mar 26, 2019

A plan to transform Padanaram Harbor has hit a roadblock with the Select Board after the disclosure of previously unknown private money to fund the development of a harbor management plan.

The March 25 Select Board meeting was supposed to be the last step for the now complete Padanaram Harbor Management Plan. The plan, which has already signed off by the Planning Board, includes a list of topic areas and various recommendations to transform the harbor, village, and surrounding coastline.

It is only a guiding plan, meaning if approved, it would be up to the town to implement each component of the plan separately.

The plan includes recommendations like preparing for the realities of climate change along the coastline, addressing pollution and water quality in and around the harbor, and improving public access to the harbor.

It contains many ideas which several members noted could change the town for the better. 

“It’s an awful lot of information, but it’s a gamechanger for the town without a doubt, even if we implement four or five of these bullet points,” said member Stanley Mickelson. “I think I’m in favor of this project — it’s a good thing — but we need to vet this out much much better.”

Kristin Uiterwyk, Director of the UMass Boston-based Urban Harbors Institute which had been hired to oversee the planning process, gave a short presentation about the plan.

During her presentation, she mentioned the contract for Urban Harbors Institute was funded by a grant from the Seaport Economic Council and a contribution from Concordia Company.

The inclusion of private funds was a surprise to the Select Board, as members worried the contribution could have biased the plan.

“It just doesn’t sound right,” said Select Board Chairman Shawn McDonald. “It sounds like the fox paying for security of the hen house.”

No one in attendance from the Institute, Waterways Commission, or an advisory committee could explain the specifics about the financial contribution.

Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes said the project had been advanced by Dartmouth’s previous Town Planner, John Hansen, and that documentation that could clarify the situation has not yet been located.

With that news, and several Select Board members who had not yet read the full 200-plus page document, the board decided to postpone a vote on approving the plan.