Lubec Safe Harbor group weighs plan

According to government statistics, commercial fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the United States, well ahead of logging. Lubec's Safe Harbor committee, an ad‑hoc working group established two years ago by the select board, has been striving to address this issue, and they have a plan.
While much engineering work and geologic study has yet to be completed, the plan entails constructing a breakwater extending several hundred feet into Johnson's Bay providing a sheltered area where mariners can launch, recover and moor vessels during inclement weather. The site is just north of the Lubec Historical Society building and is contiguous to the town‑owned property where the former public works garage stood. The plan includes three phases: land acquisition; construction of the first half of the breakwater; and final construction that includes extending the breakwater, installation of a hoist at the outer end and a road surface allowing fishermen to bring "product to market." Phase 1 is complete, although considerable site work is needed. Committee members expect that some, if not all, of the rubble needed to construct the breakwater can be obtained from that site work.
Many of these details were described in a two‑part public information meeting held on June 4 and 6. The June 4 meeting attracted a large crowd of fishermen; the second meeting drew a much smaller group but produced some probing questions.
During the first meeting Carol Dennison, who serves as both chairman of the select board and as a member of the Safe Harbor Committee, announced that a grant of $30,000 has been approved by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. This grant, which requires matching funds, is to be used to perform a sub‑surface survey of the bottom area planned for the Safe Harbor. Philanthropist Gilbert Butler has agreed to provide additional funds toward this study so that the survey will be done, according to Dennison, without taxpayer funds.
The committee is working towards grant funding from the U.S. government, in competition with groups from "all 50 states and six territories," said Dennison. A key element in earning this grant is establishing that it would improve safety within the local community. Part of the requirement, according to Dennison, is that plans are in place for "30 years of maintenance."
According to research performed by Trescott resident Julie Keene, the committee chair, four deaths could have been prevented had a breakwater such as the one envisioned been available. This does not include events that happen on boats at sea; the four were all lost while attempting to come ashore -- typically on a skiff -- during foul weather. These incidents were over a period of time -- it was not a single tragic incident but a series of events. Part of the plan includes providing the Maine Marine Patrol with dock space that would allow their boat to be available full-time, 12 months out of the year. One event was mentioned when patrol officers were unable to launch their boat in time to prevent a hypothermia event in the Lubec Narrows, as all potential launch locations were blocked by built‑up ice.
The cost of this project cannot be reliably estimated at this time as final engineering specifications are not available, and the task has not been put out to bid. One number was suggested that is a multiple of the entire town budget  including the school. Harbormaster Ralph Dennison observed that the project "cannot burden the taxpayer." Several fishermen expressed their agreement with this, with a few stating, "They don't care about us anyway." Many expressed agreement with the suggestion that phase 2 and 3 be combined -- to go for the final design right at the start rather than build the extension in the future.
Committee meetings are open to the public and listed on the town calendar, available at <www.townoflubec.com>.