WOLFEBORO, N.H. — At the Jan. 25 work session the Wolfeboro Select Board spent substantial time on enforcement, commercial insurance and licensing requirements for vessels that serve passengers or conduct barge work at town facilities, and on parking rules and storage at the Libby Museum and town parking areas.

Town staff told the board it will draft license and insurance language and consult legal counsel. "There is more to follow on that," staff said about commercial-vehicle insurance requirements, noting different vessel types (jet-skis, charters, barges) may require different insurance minimums.

Why it matters: the licensing and insurance language determines whether operators can use town docks, what risk the town will accept, and what documentation the town will require before allowing commercial landings. It also ties into any fee structure the board chooses to offset maintenance and debt tied to the docks.

Insurance, licensing and enforcement

- Insurance and inspection: staff recommended a distinct insurance section (36.08 in the draft) for commercial-vehicle insurance and said they are working with legal counsel (as referenced) to identify appropriate minimums. Board members asked staff to include commercial safety inspections and operator licensing in any application checklist. A Select Board member asked for proof that vessel operators hold required commercial operating certificates.

- Licensing vs. ordinance language: staff and board members discussed whether to rely primarily on a license agreement (a nonexclusive "license" rather than a lease) that can be tailored per operator, or to have the ordinance itself contain more prescriptive requirements. Town counsel was asked to provide a boilerplate license form for review.

- Penalties: the draft provides a civil fine up to $100 per unauthorized landing; board members discussed revocation of licenses and higher penalties but staff noted state law and the town's enforcement authority may limit fines. Members asked staff to confirm statutory limits before proposing larger fines.

Fees and revenue

- Landing fees: staff presented options for fee formulas (per-foot landing fees were discussed) and emphasized uncertainty in actual landing counts for charters. Town staff provided a straw calculation for dock maintenance and said an initial estimate for year-one repairs would be roughly $17,000 plus additional capital/bubbler costs; the town's debt schedule shows an existing commercial-dock bond payment on the CIP of about $84,000 per year for a prior project, which board members noted as context for fee-setting.

- Dedicated account: the draft earmarks commercial landing-license revenues for dock maintenance and improvement; the board asked staff to create an account and bring a recommended budget allocation.

Libby Museum storage and parking; island trailer parking

- Libby Museum: board members reported seeing construction vehicles, trucks and stored materials at the Libby Museum site that appear to conflict with existing ordinance language prohibiting storage at town sites. Members said the museum staff had previously managed complaints, and that enforcement has lapsed since the museum is closed; staff was asked to notify known barge operators and, if noncompliance continues, forward violations to the police department.

- Trailer parking: the draft splits long-term seasonal island trailer parking (Filter Bed Road) from short-term launch parking (Glendon Street and Mass Landing). The board discussed permit issuance (one permit per island household), towing and ticketing authority, and a short-term limit of 24 hours at Glendon Street and Mass Landing; Filter Bed Road was proposed as seasonal island-resident long-term parking (April 1 to the third Monday in October) with permits issued by the billing and collections office.

Next steps

Staff was directed to prepare a revised ordinance and a draft commercial license agreement, consult legal counsel about insurance and penalty authority, produce figures on dock maintenance and revenue needs, and return to the board with a consolidated proposal and recommended fee schedule. The board did not take formal votes at the work session.

Speakers quoted in this article are identified from the meeting record and include town staff, Select Board members, and referenced legal counsel; where the transcript does not give a formal title the article attributes remarks by role as recorded in the work session.

Ending note

Select Board members flagged enforcement as a key practical constraint: they can adopt ordinance language and license terms, but effective application will require either steady police involvement, a civilian enforcement role for the summer season, or a digital/administrative monitoring plan tied to a budget request.