By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Things in the Marine Safety Department are going just swimmingly.

The Town of Naples has put more money toward improving safety on the water and, already, the personnel is willing to work and is either certified or in the process of doing that.

On the other hand, on land, a law enforcement presence will be less than what was expected. The pool of workers in this field has dried up.

This year, the Town of Naples budgeted and approved extra funding to have a full-time deputy in town during the summertime. That is above and beyond what the town pays the county to get police coverage.

On Monday, the Naples Board of Selectmen learned that extra officers will be on the clock for the upcoming Maine Blues Festival. Also, there will be plenty of law enforcement coverage in Naples on July 4. 

Still, the employment situation means that Naples won’t have the extra law enforcement it had budgeted for throughout the summer. The plan was to have a deputy in town for 10-hour shifts four times a week.

“Due to staffing shortages at the Cumberland Country Sherriff’s Office (CCSO) and the challenges they are having with recruiting qualified officers, they are not going to be able to commit to the level of staffing for the summer that we had requested,” according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley.

The CCSO has “guaranteed us coverage for the Blues Fest weekend, for July 4 – 7, for Aug. 29 – 31 and for Sept. 1 – 2, from 2 p.m. to midnight,” Hawley said.

The good news is: a deputy will be available during the busiest weekends and there will be leftover funding for next year that could be used for Memorial Day weekend 2020, Hawley said.

People had suggestions, which although good, were not doable.

Chairman Jim Grattelo asked if the town could hire a police officer from another community. The answer was no.

Resident Roger Clement recalled the time when the Town of Naples had a constable. In fact, resident Buzz Morton said the constable was his uncle.

There was a time when “it was not uncommon for towns to have a constable. Constable didn’t carry weapons,” Town Manager Hawley said, adding he wouldn’t advise sending someone out as a law enforcement figure without having the ability to carry a weapon.

A constable is defined as “a peace officer with limited policing authority, typically in a small town.”

Clement suggested “For the tourists’ season, you might be able to hire to young folks that are in the law enforcement” program at Lake Region Vocational Center.

Hawley said unless the person is employed by a police department or a security firm, that scenario would pose problems with liability and proper authority.

Also, during Monday’s meeting, Marine Safety was discussed. It had been put on the agenda at the request of Selectman Jim Turpin.

The end result of the discussion is that the Marine Safety Department will be fair to boaters without milfoil stickers, giving them a few days to prove it or fix it.

“It was brought to our attention that boaters arrive here, want to put the boat in the water, and don’t know where to get a milfoil sticker,” Turpin said. “What approach are you guys going to take? Is your approach going to be, ‘The law is the law? Here is your ticket.’ Do we want to spoil someone’s first day of vacation or do we want to send a message that we could lay down the hammer?”

Naples Harbor Master Shawn Hebert spoke.

He said that tickets will be written for someone who has clearly violated the boat inspection law and is most likely aware of the law. After all, there are signs at launch points informing boaters that inspections are mandatory. He said that if the boater is from North Conway it is likely they are aware since New Hampshire has milfoil laws, too.

“We have asked the wardens how they are handling it,” Hebert said, adding the person probably read and ignored the signs about the law and put the boat in the water without it being inspected.

Chairman Grattelo said he favored a warning for first-time offenders.

“Wouldn’t we want to accomplish a couple things? Say, we don’t give the person a citation if they can prove it. We ask them to send us a copy of the milfoil sticker within a few days,” he said. “That would be my preference for the first-time offence.”

Grattelo said the marine officers could ask where the person launched their boat without it being inspected for milfoil or for a sticker.

“We have to opportunities to accomplish what we want without putting the hammer down,” he said.

Turpin took the floor again.

“I don’t want us to find ourselves with a line out the door at town hall and tourists complaining,” Turpin said.

“We want to correct the problem,” Grattelo said, adding that learning where the boat was launched will help pinpoint places where boats are entering the water without being checked for milfoil.

Selectman Bob Caron II said, “I agree with both of you. We need to educate the boaters. These are the rules we have to follow to stay on top of protecting our waters. If, in two days, you can prove it [having a milfoil sticker] you don’t get a ticket. But, be aware, in future visits to Naples,” stickers and inspections are required.

Hebert agreed.

“I am huge fan of the fix-it ticket,” he said.

“In the past week, the boats have been on the water 21 hours. We’ve had 13 hours of training and 19 hours of boat details,” Hebert reported.