Block Island Harbors had a busy summer

Just as numbers from the Water and Sewer Departments and the Block Island Power Company tell a story about tourism-directed economic activity, so do the statistics from the Harbors Department. And the numbers are in.
In a report provided to the Harbors Committee for its meeting on October 15, Harbormaster Kate McConville laid out the results of the 2020 summer season, which extends from May 1 through September 30. Despite a slow start due to R.I. Department of Environmental Management Covid-19 restrictions, and travel restrictions in general, activity picked up and exceeded expectations. 
Overall, 2020 town mooring rentals and wharfage revenues, at $524,389, were only down 4.9 percent over the 2019 season. However, they were up by 4.6 percent over the 2018 season. While there are always variations in the weather – there was no hurricane scare just before Labor Day, and boats generally are becoming larger, there was one other factor that may have played a part. The influx of sand into Old Harbor coupled with no dredging in the past two years meant that the bait dock and 75 feet of the town dock could not be utilized for transient vessels. In her report, McConville

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