05/16/2018

Council refers Harbors, Spurwink School reports to future workshop

The Town Council on May 14, 2018 accepted reports from the Harbors Committee and from the Spurwink School Committee, ad hoc committees that have been working on their respective charges since 2016.

The Spurwink School Committee is recommending that the Town Council accept the Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society's bid to use the school, a former one-room school house that most recently housed the Thomas Memorial Library's children's section, for its office and historical collection. "We conclude that locating the Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society in the building is a viable and good use of the facility that would provide benefit to the community, and are pleased to give the Town Council our unanimous endorsement of their proposal," the report says.

Still to be determined are how the building would be conveyed to the society, and how building renovations and improvements would be funded.

The Harbors Committee report presents a more complicated set of recommendations on issues relating to Cape Elizabeth's harbors.

In its executive summary, the report is recommending that the town:

• Accept recommended changes to the Town's Coastal Waters and Harbor Ordinance, as outlined in the report
• Resolve Kettle Cove/Crescent Beach area access and circulation issues and implement other related changes
• Complete the mooring mapping update process, revise the town's website mooring section to reflect current conditions, and continue to support a professional Harbormaster position
• Maintain and improve upon places of public water access
• Maintain a working waterfront by providing a balance between commercial and recreational uses
• Take actions to mitigate adverse sea level rise consequences
• Conduct a comprehensive review of the town's marine resources and its management on a time frame not to exceed a 10-year duration

The report includes results from an online public survey conducted in July 2017, and a draft marine resourced chapter for the 2019 Comprehensive Plan currently under development.

The Town Council thanked both committees for their work and referred both reports to a future workshop.