LINCOLNVILLE — The Lincolnville Selectmen and Harbor Committee agreed to pursue a Strategic Harbor Plan in an effort to update unreached goals set in 2006 for the town’s waterfront.

 At the July 23 meeting the two municipal entities also agreed to push the question concerning the Harbor Master conflict of interest to another date. The discussion will take place in executive session so as to avoid the impression of a public trial.

 Michael Hutchings has held the Harbor Master position for 30 years and has also worked as a commercial fisherman throughout his posting.

 The Selectmen and Harbor Committee reviewed several one and five year goals that were established in 2006. Progress was noted and goals were given one of two treatments.

 Goals determined to be not immediately essential were pushed to later decisions. For goals that were decidedly more important, the committee’s drew up explicit steps for completion.

 The first issue brought forward was an increase in the number of bait boxes available. Currently, bait box capacity is full with 22. Because bait boxes use town dock space more boxes could become a problem unless dock space is extended. Right now there is one fisherman waiting for two bait boxes, the issue was pushed to a later date and the cap of 22 was maintained.

 The second issue was freshwater access for fishermen. There is no easily accessible hose for fishermen to use to wash their boats in Lincolnville Harbor. The least expensive solution is to tap into a fresh water supply that goes directly to the ferry terminal. The Harbor Committee decided to pursue this route by talking to the Department of Transportation.

 An annual meeting between the Lincolnville Harbor Committee and Islesboro residents was set to take place in the fall. This meeting will serve as a yearly update on Linconlille-Islesboro relations, especially for the working fishermen who share harbor space in Lincolnville.

 Finally the Harbor Committee and selectmen decided to update the digital map of the moorings in Lincolnville Harbor. Since 2006 two additional moorings have been placed in the outer harbor to reach a total of 47. The new map will be readily available at the town office and will use GPS coordinates to map all 47 moorings.

 There is a waiting list for moorings in the harbor. As a shallow harbor the inner harbor is at capacity, and Harbor Master Hutchings has voiced concerns that the outer harbor is not protected enough to safely have many more moorings. A potential increase in number of moorings will be discussed at a later date.

 The July 23 meeting was contained to two hours and did not include time for public comment. The creation of a new strategic harbor plan based on these updated 2006 goals will be discussed at a later meeting that will be open to public input.

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Lincolnville selectmen, committee get down to brass tacks about harbor