Howland fears dock took wild river ride

HOWLAND – Anyone along the Penobscot River south of Howland who sees something that looks suspiciously like a dock bobbing on down the river might want to give Howland’s town offices a call today.

It seems that the town’s dock is missing.

That’s right.

The dock.

While theft hasn’t been absolutely ruled out, town officials suspect that unusually high and strong Piscataquis River currents tore the dock loose about 200 feet above the Howland dam sometime overnight Tuesday and presumably sent it over the dam and into the Penobscot River.

The missing-dock report stunned spokesman Mark Latti of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“Has it been reported stolen or missing? Wow,” Latti said Wednesday. “I got to tell you, this is a new one.”

Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Hallett, a former selectman, told Fire Chief Philip Dawson that he would alert the U.S. Coast Guard to watch for the dock, Dawson said.

“I didn’t know if he was screwing with me or not,” Dawson said.

Residents who saw the current’s flow over the past few weeks were impressed with the water’s power.

The dock “was there when I walked by at about 5:30 p.m. for my regular walk,” Kim Soucier, a deputy clerk at the town offices, said. “The water was pretty high, and there was quite a current. It [the water] might have been just below the wharf.”

Gerard St. Cyr, who owns a variety store on Water Street opposite the dock, said that in his five years operating The Corner Store, he has never seen the dock damaged – never mind ripped from its moorings.

“I was amazed at what the force of the river can do,” St. Cyr said Wednesday. “The thing was tied down pretty well, so I was kind of surprised.”

First Selectman Frank Kirsch visited the scene Wednesday and was due to meet with other town officials to discuss the town’s response. He did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. Town Manager Glenna Armour is on vacation this week.

A mainstay for Howland-area tourists, the dock gets almost daily use from boaters and fishermen who visit the area in search of bass and the occasional salmon, St. Cyr said. It’s a great fishing spot.

The dock is actually not made of wood, Dawson said, but a composite plastic that was moored to a steel or iron stabilizer at two points.

While the loss of the dock might seem dryly amusing – especially since no one was reported hurt – its impact upon town business could be severe, St. Cyr said.

“I think they are going to have to take some immediate action,” St. Cyr said. “That dock is used all the time by tourists and visitors. That’s something they are going to have to deal with. It’s very important to our business and business in town.”

Town officials told St. Cyr that they were probing whether town insurance policies covered the loss and what role, if any, state officials might have in the dock’s replacement.