Southport selectmen recently received word that a request from Sheepscot Pilots, Inc. to place additional floats at Robinson’s Wharf had received preliminary approval from the state.

Carol DiBello, submerged lands coordinator for Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands indicated in her July 22 letter that final approval would be in effect after a 30-day review period ended on Aug. 22.

The request asked for an addition of six floats to those which were previously approved in a submerged lands lease granted in 2006.

Reached for comment by the Boothbay Register, David Winslow, who operates Sheepscot Pilots, Inc. and Robinson’s Wharf, said that the request was made because boaters in the area were rafting (tying up boats to each other) and walking across the boats, which could have become dangerous. As a result, the decision was made to ask for additional floats.

Under Maine’s submerged lands statute, which was enacted in 1997, a rental fee based on square footage is charged for the area below floats or piers. Submerged lands in Maine include coastal areas and islands, tidal rivers, ponds that are 10 or more acres in size and rivers that form Maine's border with Canada.

According to the state’s letter, concern was expressed by neighbors of the property that the additional floats would make “navigation, fishing and recreational uses of the area difficult.”

In response to comments made at two public hearings, Winslow scaled the plan back “to accommodate the residents.”

However, in its review of the revised plan, the state found that there will be adequate space in Townsend Gut without interfering with other uses of the area.

“I don’t think we will have any problem,” Winslow said.

According to Winslow, approval for the additional floats was requested and received from the town of Southport, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection before receiving the nod from the state’s Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Work on the new floats is expected to begin next spring.