Harbor commission proposes fee changes and enforcement fixes; council directs solicitor to formalize fee schedule

The Tiverton Harbor Commission presented proposed updates to the town's mooring rules and a recommended increase in mooring fees during the March 24 council meeting. Commissioners said annual renewal timing and difficulties with collection and enforcement under the town’s current process motivated the changes.

Assistant harbormaster Dave Banyan told the council that moving the renewal notice date from Dec. 15 to Jan. 3 and allowing email notifications would make online mooring management practical with the town’s current mooring contractor. “It makes it much simpler to send it out after the first of the year,” Banyan said.

Commissioners also reviewed a proposed fee schedule that raised resident and nonresident mooring fees modestly (the packet compared local fees with Portsmouth and Bristol). The harbor commission reported administrative problems with unpaid renewal fees from prior years and limited patrol staffing to verify boats on moorings. The commission asked the council for authority to update fees and for a clearer path to improved enforcement, including shortening timelines for unpaid moorings and streamlining the code to allow the town to reclaim unused moorings faster.

Councilors debated whether to set fees higher, noting that nearby Portsmouth charges substantially more and provides more amenities. Council members directed the town solicitor to take the commission’s recommended new fees and incorporate them into the town’s fees-and-fines resolution (or otherwise advise on the appropriate adoption path). One councilor said the solicitor should “determine where the heck they are” in ordinance or fee schedules and return with a legal mechanism to adopt the changes.

Harbor staff noted enforcement constraints: a mooring assigned to a space can remain physically present in the mooring contractor's possession for a year under current procedure before the town can reassign it — a period that staff said complicates addressing unpaid accounts. Commissioners sought code changes to shorten those timelines and to permit more proactive patrol and ticketing.

Why it matters: Mooring fees and enforcement determine who can use scarce mooring spaces and how the town funds harbor operations. The recommended changes aim to modernize renewal timing for online systems, reduce administrative arrears, and raise revenue modestly for harbor services.

What’s next: The council voted to direct the solicitor to draft the fee schedule into the fees-and-fines resolution and to advise on any ordinance revisions needed to speed enforcement. Harbor staff and councilors also said they will work out enforcement procedures and follow up with the solicitor.