Town Expands Committee's Scope To Waterfront

The town's Harbor Advisory Committee is now the Harbor and Waterfront Advisory Committee.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to add waterfront to the name of the long-standing committee, which currently supervises only Fisherman's Beach.

Selectman Glenn Kessler proposed the change, saying the members of the committee are "ready and willing to step up" to expanding their concerns to the entire waterfront between the city limits of Lynn and the town line with Marblehead.

Town Administrator Thomas Younger supported the change, telling the Selectmen, "I need help." He said the waterfront is Swampscott's greatest asset for economic development and recreation. "It can not be duplicated," he said.

But there is so many things that need to be done on the waterfront, Younger said. Working with the members of the committee, a lot more can get done.

"If you want to go to the next level, we will need the help of the harbor committee," Younger said.

The Selectmen postponed until its next meeting revising the charter for the committee.

Younger, stressing that he wanted to limit the expansion of the committee's responsibilities to one year, said he would rewrite the mission statement for the next meeting.

Selectman Jill Sullivan expressed some reservations about expanding the committee's responsibilities.

"There have been a lot of thorny issues, a lot of dissent and conflicts on the committee," she said.

Bill Hennessey, chairman of the harbor committee, said his committee looked forward to working with Town Planner Peter Kane to identify areas they can help the waterfront.

"Our committee is jelling  nicely. We have some new members," he said.

One area of interest for the committee is identifying more amenities for boaters on shore, including offering fuel, pump out services and drinking water.

Hennessey praised Younger for being receptive to working with the committee.