Harbormaster applies for private mooring field outside Old Harbor
But he says applications have already been put 'on hold'
By Peter Voskamp



Harbormaster Chris Willi's name appears on an application to the
Department of Environmental Management, seeking a water quality
certificate for a proposed 4.59-acre mooring field - roughly the same
size as Champlin's Marina expansion proposal, which Willi testified
against - just northwest of the entrance to Old Harbor.

But Willi said Wednesday that the project is on hold. "We're not
sure we really want to do it," he said.

The company, "Block Island Mooring Services," which, according to
the application, includes Tony Edwards, a member and the former chair
of the Harbors Committee, is seeking to install "50-60 rental
moorings outside West Breakwater at Old Harbor, Block Island."

An accompanying letter says that the "project proposed is in type 4
waters and... is in an area classification of 'permanent closure -
polluted.'"

The letter goes on to describe a mooring field set up in a
75-by-75-foot grid pattern, to service vessels of less than 50 feet.

It ends, "Block Island Mooring Services intends to charge a fee
similar to the Town of New Shoreham's fee structure in New Harbor as
well as offer launch service. Anchorage would not be permitted in the
mooring field. Operational months would be May to October."

The date on the application is Jan. 20.

The timing of the application is sure to raise some eyebrows.

In the last month Willi, in his public role as Block Island's
harbormaster, has made the rounds to various island boards and
organizations presenting his vision for a vast renovation of Old
Harbor, which includes eliminating some mooring and free anchorage in
the outer basin of Old Harbor.

It was this aspect of the plan that has raised the most outcry,
especially from boaters on the mainland.

Reached in Florida on Wednesday, Willi said he has contacted the DEM
twice asking them not to process the private mooring field application.


The project is "on hold," said Willi. He said his "intentions are
not devious," and that he doesn't want see the Old Harbor plan,
most of which has been met with enthusiasm, compromised in any way.

He added that in his opinion, the application is incomplete, and that
the number of proposed moorings may change.

Willi acknowledged that some may see a conflict of interest in his
application, but insisted that it was an idea he and his partner had
long before he became the harbormaster. Also, he said that as
harbormaster he does not make the final decision on any of these
matters: the Town Council, the Harbors Committee and state agencies
will make the ultimate decisions.

What's more, he said, he's already altered the original Old Harbor
plan to reflect the concerns many boaters had about eliminating the
free anchorage; the newer version restores the free anchorage.

Willi and Edwards also filed an application with the US Army Corps of
Engineers. Mike Elliot of the Army Corps said that Willi had asked in
late January that that application also be "put on hold." Currently
it's "a closed file," said Elliot.