Nahant harbormaster issues warning about mooring fees

NAHANT – The Nahant Harbormaster?s office will be distributing yellow tickets to boat owners who have not yet paid the fee to use a mooring off of Tudor Wharf beginning this week.Harbormaster Rob Tibbo said boat owners were supposed to have paid the registration fees by June. The fee is $6 a foot for residents and $10 a foot for non-residents, bringing the average cost to about $60 and $100, Tibbo said. He said the Harbormaster?s Office has the right to take unpaid moorings away because they are deemed “illegal,” but added he does not want to take that step.?We gave everyone a nice grace period and now we are going to be aggressive letting them know they owe some money,” Tibbo said. “It?s really out of respect to the people who are paying their mooring fees. It?s not fair for some people to get off scot-free”Tibbo said he has noticed it is consistently the same 25 to 60 boats that have unpaid mooring fees. “Some of them forget, but others are just delinquent,” he said.While there is no fine attached to the yellow tickets, Tibbo said if the fee remains unpaid he will cut the pennant line to the mooring when the boat is out of the harbor, so when the owners return they will have to hook the boat up to the dock or take it out of the water until the fee is paid. “My main concern is that I don?t want it to get to that point,” he said. “But if we do, we will have to.”Tibbo said he doesn?t want to have to take the mooring, because Nahant doesn?t have the equipment for it. Tibbo said he would have to hire a contractor to take the mooring out, and the offender is not only on the hook for the unpaid fee, but also the $100 to get the mooring taken out. It would be another $100 to put it back in.?We don?t have the equipment to remove the moorings so we?re looking for another way to remind people of their obligation,” said Tibbo.Tibbo said limited equipment isn?t the only thing holding back enforcement. His staff has “no real salary” and therefore operates on a volunteer basis.?We?re not trying to be punitive about this, we are trying to make sure people are being treated fairly,” Tibbo said. “They shouldn?t have to spend money where others aren?t so we are leveling the playing field.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].