The Saga of the Indian Princess continues. Check one for the Concerned Citizens who got one of the planning board members to abstain due to a possible conflict of interest. Amazing that they didnt exercise that same judgement when their former leader was heading the Conservation Commission. I will give it to Brian Lee at the Telegram, hes been on top of this from the beginning and this most recent article from yesterdays Telegram does a good job explaining to the readers just how difficult it is to compete against those with money as they exact their will on everyone else. I wish the Concerned Citizens would spend that money on a playground or something worth while. Telegram & Gazette: Wednesday July 9, 2014: Brian Lee Indian Ranch owner says Planning Board rejection wont sink paddle boat WEBSTER — Webster Ventures controversial plan to put a 75-foot paddle boat on Webster Lake was rejected as submitted by the Planning Board this week, the latest action in the ongoing saga involving residents and town and state officials. But Christopher Robert, owner of the Indian Ranch campground and concert venue, said in an interview he was by no means walking away from the plan, which aims to enlarge a marina to make room for the 59-ton boat, called Indian Princess, and create 51 boat slips at the Gore Road property. He said he did not want to say whether he would revise plan details before the project goes to Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Monday. The Planning Board was charged with making a recommendation to the ZBA. Mr. Robert, who previously operated the boat in Florida, brought the vessel to Barrington, R.I., last year, pending the outcome of state and local barriers he faces. You can quote me — the boat will be in the water this year, he said Wednesday. The Planning Boards 4-0 vote cited deficiencies in planning for fueling, wastewater disposal, handicap access, the boats usage of lake water for sanitary facilities, lack of an environmental study, and other alleged omissions. Abstaining was Chairman Paul LaFramboise, who lives on the shore of the lake. A citizens group suggested Mr. LaFramboise might have some sort of connection to proponents of the boat. In an interview Wednesday, Indian Ranch consultant Richard D. Cazeault addressed the incomplete plan. Though this wasnt brought up during the meeting, he said the towns engineering consultant, CME Associates Inc. of Woodstock, continued to ask questions until July 3, which required the project teams consultants to generate prints for the July 7 meeting after the holiday weekend. Mr. Cazeault, an engineer, suggested this could have been handled better by the town consultant. During the meeting, Mr. Cazeault disclosed that a temporary 40-foot barge was necessary to tender the Indian Princess, but the plans had not referred to the barge. Kenneth Vacovec of Concerned Citizens for Webster Lake, which argues the boat is too big for the lake, said the boards action was a step in the right direction. The citizens group hired lawyers, environmental scientists, surveyors and consultants because the matter is mired in municipal and environmental issues that require expertise that the average citizen does not possess, Mr. Vacovec said. Mr. Cazeault told the board the project teams intent is to meet all federal, state and local regulations. We could go through the Federal Register and write a 1,000-page book on every regulation that applies to this project, he said. But we assume that theres further permitting thats going to happen on every one of these sequences. Mr. Cazeault said the town hadnt allowed his group to bring town water onto the boat for patrons to wash their hands because municipal water contains copper, chlorine, manganese and other pollutants. Therefore, Mr. Roberts company said, it will either install a dry wash station or bring distilled water aboard. But Mr. Cazeault noted that most people wash their boats with town water from hoses, and that the town, during a hydrant flushing program this spring and early summer, had streamed the polluted town water into the lake. Mr. Robert, the owner, called the apparent contradiction sick stuff. Meanwhile, Mr. Vacovec said that the plan for 350 parking spaces for 3,000 concertgoers, or 8.5 people per car, was inadequate. But Mr. Cazeault said that in an effort to alleviate the parking situation on concert days, boat rides would only be given to those who possess a ticket to the concert. The boat holds 125 people. In addition, only campers in the campground could secure berths in the enlarged marina. There is a waiting list of people at the campground who want boat slips, Mr. Cazeault said. During the meeting, town consultant Charles Eaton of CME Associates said the Indian Ranch plan, among other things, only showed a photo of a path from nine handicap parking spaces to the marina, but it required details of grading and surface material depicting compliance to state architectural access board standards. Mr. Cazeault countered that state law only applies to marine terminals that schedule public transportation. Indian Princess, he said was an excursion boat. According to Mr. Eaton, the Indian Ranch plan also lacked a professional engineer or registered land surveyor signing off on property boundaries, an actual sewer easement instead of an estimated one, clarification regarding the usage of the barge during the pumping out of wastewater from the boat in the plans narrative, and more. The plan was previously approved by the Conservation Commission on a set of 51 conditions. A group of residents in Reid Smith Cove, where the paddle boat and marina would be situated, appealed the decision to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The project has also applied to the DEP for an application to build the docking facilities for the boat and proposed marina. State Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, and state Rep. Ryan C. Fattman, R-Webster, filed legislation to restrict the length of boats on the lake to 40 feet and to restrict commercial activities on the lake at night. The legislation is before the Joint Committee on the Environment and Agriculture. Asked if the expense was worth the fight, Mr. Robert said the boat was his passion. Ill keep spending all the money I have until I get the boat in the water. Then Im going to provide such things as free trips for Bartlett High School. ... Im going to do a fair amount of humanitarian work with it. I think I can get it cash-flow positive, but it will never be a net-profitable operation. Thats OK to me. Its my hobby. Dozens of residents were at the meeting, which had to be moved from a basement meeting room in Town Hall to the buildings auditorium.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 06:02:53 +0000
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