This boat will replace a much older boat which is not designed for the purposes it is currently used for, including law enforcement, search and rescue, and utility functions for other emergency services in the area. The new boat will allow greater visibility, maneuverability, and access in all of these functions, greatly increasing the safety of both the law enforcement officer or emergency service provider utilizing the boat, and the citizens receiving assistance or service.

The Town of Greenville recognizes that as the primary service center for the greater Moosehead Lake Region, we provide services for members of the public which far exceed the number of those who live in our municipality year round. A great deal of those services offered in our community are utilized by visitors from out of town, touring our region. These tourists make up the mainstay of our local economy. It would irresponsible of our community to not make every effort financially and physically possible to ensure the safety of those visitors, nearly all of whom come here to recreate on or around Moosehead Lake.

We feel that the upgrading of the current patrol boat used by the Game Wardens based in Greenville will greatly enhance the service provided by many service providers in our community. Not only would our local wardens – who are understaffed for the volume of visitors and the expense of land in this region – make excellent use of this new boat, but so would the Greenville Police and Fire Departments, and likely the local ambulance service at Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home.

The number of boat registrations in Greenville have increased in each of the past five years, according to our excise tax records. Moreover, the use of kayaks by visitors has greatly increased in the past two years, with several Greenville businesses renting kayaks to tourists. The total number of motorized and non-motorized boats present in East and West coves of Moosehead Lake – both located within the municipality of Greenville –has increased to a point of concern. Anything which can be done to improve the quality of patrols by Game Wardens in these two areas will do much to ensure the safe passage of these water vessels in our community.

The Greenville Police Department has, from time to time, needed a boat to access islands and remote shore locations in Greenville to investigate break-ins, thefts, and other crimes. Also, the Greenville Police department and the Greenville Public Works Departments would greatly benefit from access to a boat for utility purposes for special occasions, such as for transporting docks to and from shore to a floating barge from which fireworks are shot on the Fourth of July. The boat would also be beneficial during the fireworks demonstration to help keep other boats away from the barge, to offer rescue services for the fireworks shooters on the barge should anything go wrong, and to transport EMS personnel to and from the barge for emergencies.

In addition to these potential uses by the Town of Greenville, our fire department would benefit from having access to a boat of this nature for fire and rescue calls to the islands located within the Town of Greenville. In the past, the department has had to scurry to find private boats to transport their portable pumps and other firefighting equipment to get from downtown Greenville to properties on the handful of islands within the municipality on Moosehead Lake. Having access to a boat which is better suited to carrying such supplies and getting in and out of tight places would greatly improve our firefighting capacity in these remote areas.

Although the local ambulance service is not owned or operated by the Town of Greenville, we perceive a benefit to the EMS personnel who work for this service when they have emergency calls along the lake in remote locations which would be best accessed by a boat.

We understand that when this boat is acquired by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, it will be housed in Greenville and be maintained and operated by the Game Wardens stationed in this region. We further understand that as a multi-jurisdictional boat, our fire and police departments would have access to it when needed, which would be fairly rare. We recognize that the very limited volume of calls our emergency service providers receive which require a boat of this nature makes the Town's purchase of such a boat financially impossible to justify. It is therefore in the Town's best interests to assist the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in their effort to secure funds for the purchase of this boat which we could use when needed.

To underscore our support for this boat acquisition, the Board of Selectmen hereby pledges to bring before the voters in either the next special or annual Town Meeting a request to appropriate $2,500 from unappropriated surplus to go toward the purchase of this boat. We understand that all maintenance and insurance costs for the vessel would remain the responsibility of the IF&W, but do pledge to make this one-time payment toward the boat's purchase, pending voter approval at Town Meeting.

We wish you the best of luck in your efforts to secure funding through the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund for the purchase of this vessel.

Sincerely;

Eugene F. Murray, Sr.
Chairman

Bonita DuBien
Vice-Chair

Alan McBrierty
Selectman

Earl Richardson
Selectman

Bruce Hanson
Selectman

Attest: John Simko
Town Manager