Panel to discuss fee waiver for maritime project

ROCKLAND – A nonprofit group that wants to create a Maine Maritime Tradition Center on the city’s waterfront is asking for a few favors from the City Council – one of which will be considered tonight.

A delegation from the Maine Maritime Tradition Center, led by Kristina Williamson, will seek a fee waiver from the city for dumping dredged materials from Lermond’s Cove. The fee that normally would be charged comes to roughly $2.8 million, Councilor Brian Harden said Sunday. The 7 p.m. meeting is at City Hall.

Last month, the Rockland Port District voted to provide the group $200,000 for dredging, contingent upon the center obtaining a federal matching grant and the dredge materials being accepted at no cost at the city’s landfill.

Other requests from the group are for the city to swap a piece of land with FMC Corp., to give the group a right of way, and for a zoning change that would allow condominiums to be built on the Bicknell Manufacturing property. Both parcels are on Tillson Avenue.

The nonprofit group is composed of the owners of four schooners: the Ellida, Victory Chimes, J & E Riggin and the Nathaniel Bowditch. Williamson and her husband, Paul, own the Ellida.

On Friday, Kristina Williamson said the project is aimed at drawing more people to Rockland and its waterfront, but the key motivation is to find a safer berth. The schooners’ current docking location is at Journey’s End Marina, located on the opposite side of Tillson Avenue.

The present docking area is not protected from east or southeast storms, Williamson said, and the U.S. Coast Guard has talked about a “no boat” zone around its dock, which is close to the schooners’ space.

“I really don’t like that hanging over my head,” Williamson said.

Chief Warrant Officer Kyle Santheson said Friday that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the Coast Guard considered a 75-yard restrictive perimeter, but that there are no plans to do that at this time.

“What [the Coast Guard] proposed would have blocked 95 percent of the channel on the east side,” Santheson said, noting that he has requested a 20-yard zone if needed.

According to Harden, the dredge spoils actually would be a benefit to the city because that type of material cuts foul odors coming from the dump quarry. He also pointed to the fact that FMC releases materials every day into the quarry at a much-reduced rate. Perhaps the city could give the maritime group a better rate, he said. He does not support entirely waiving the fee.

If the maritime center becomes a reality, it will involve the group buying the Bicknell Manufacturing property, which has 32,000 square feet of building space. An unidentified “venture capital company” would purchase the property from the maritime group and develop it into a museum or two, shops, a ship’s store, restaurant, meeting space and condominiums, Williamson said.

“There’s a huge cry for condos” in Rockland, she said.

The construction of condominiums would require a zone change to residential.

The group also wants the city to swap an unspecified piece of city-owned land with FMC. FMC owns a parking lot adjacent to the Bicknell property that the maritime group would like to turn into a park. A right of way from the city also is needed for the dock system, Williamson said.

The maritime center is a “boost for the city,” she said, noting that the comparable Maine Maritime Museum in Bath draws 65,000 visitors annually.

The four schooners now attract 3,000 visitors per year, she said, which should grow in number to 65,000 with a maritime center.

Besides providing a maritime center and schooner docking, the project would allow the vessels Harvey Gamage and the Spirit of Massachusetts, which both team with the state to work with underprivileged youngsters, to tie up there, she said.