The Scituate Waterways Commission moved to establish a new "premium" pricing tier for harbor slips, voting to recommend a $10 per foot surcharge for prime outer slips at Cole Parkway and the Maritime Center. The decision, part of a comprehensive five-year fee schedule designed to fund future dredging projects, highlighted a rare split between the commission and Harbormaster Stephen Mone. While the commission settled on the $10 premium, Mone argued for a more aggressive $20 per foot increase, eventually casting a dissenting vote against the final proposal.

Financial lead Brian Kelly presented the multi-year model, noting that while the town remains "middle of the pack" for slip rates, it is significantly underpriced regarding moorings. "We're on the low side on moorings," Kelly said, explaining that the revenue plan aims to absorb estimated debt service for dredging the South River by 2028. "We are at a point right now where we need to come up with conceptually something that we can then turn around and put to paper... to be able to absorb the cost estimated for new debt related to dredging."

The commission debated the timing and severity of the increases, with some members expressing concern about hitting boaters too hard in a single year. Brian Cronin suggested a staggered approach, noting, "Maybe let’s skip the waterways user fee until when do we need the money? I hate to increase prices without telling people ahead of time when they’ve already put deposits down." Conversely, David Sincoski pushed for a more realistic assessment of the town's standing, stating, "When you compare apples with apples... we were kind of in the middle of the pack. The select board’s going to take a sledgehammer to this."

The most contentious point centered on the "prime" outer slips, which were widened during the recent marina reconstruction. Stephen Mone urged the board to value these slips appropriately. "If you really want to know my honest opinion, I think the outer slips should go up $20 a foot," Mone said. "They’re premium slips. They’re the better slips... I just think that they’re looking for that to be charged something similar to that." While Rick Murray initially supported the $20 figure to avoid frequent increases, other members like Howie Cretzenberg disagreed. "I wouldn’t go with 20. I go with 10 at the most because we're talking a 17% increase. That’s huge," Cretzenberg argued.

Commission member TJ supported the $10 compromise as a starting point. "I’m in line with $10 and that gives us the opportunity or flexibility to escalate in the coming years instead of kind of hitting them out the gate," he noted. Nick also signaled his alignment with the $10 figure during the final deliberations.

Public participants and commercial representatives also weighed in on the broader fee structure. Mike Deo suggested that the Waterways User Fee, which has not changed in years, was the fairest way to distribute the burden. "The 125 Harbor use fee hasn’t changed in many, many years. I think a $25 increase is not a big ask. That way it doesn’t just impact the slip and mooring holders, it actually impacts all boaters that are using the water," Deo said. Mike Gibbons agreed with the tiered approach for slips, adding, "Understanding that there’s a little bit of a premium for those slips there... I would think 10 foot would be better on that."

Before leaving the meeting early, Rick Murray also addressed the potential for revenue from the Jericho boat ramp, though he cautioned against burdening the Harbormaster's office with parking enforcement. "I’d rather have Steve [Mone] spending his time on the water than doing parking lot surveying," Murray said, though the commission agreed to keep the ramp on their radar for future study.

Motion made by Brian Cronin to accept the proposed fee schedule, including a $10 additional charge for outer slips, an 8% resident slip increase every other year, a 10% non-resident slip increase every other year, a $1 mooring increase every other year, and a $25 Waterways User Fee increase for 2026.

Motion Passed (6-2-0)

Following the vote, Chairman David Denine confirmed the numbers would be presented to the Select Board. David Sincoski and Stephen Mone cast the dissenting votes, with Mone specifically citing his preference for a higher premium on the outer slips. The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 PM.