Havre de Grace city officials and leaders of the Susquehanna Hose Company, with the support of local legislators, are seeking up to $100,000 in bond financing from the state to supplement the cost of a new fire and rescue boat for the fire company.
About seven representatives of the city and Hose Company traveled to Annapolis Saturday to make their case to members of the Maryland House of Delegates Appropriations Committee and the Senate's Budget and Taxation Committee.
Two Harford County legislators – freshman Del. Mary Ann Lisanti and freshman Sen. Robert Cassilly – have introduced bond bills in their respective chambers on behalf of the boat request.
Lisanti is sponsoring House Bill 831, and Cassilly and his fellow Harford County senators are sponsoring Senate Bill 878, according to the General Assembly website.
City Council President Bill Martin, who was among the members who testified before the committee members, gave an overview of the visit during a council meeting Monday.
Hose Company officials are trying to acquire a larger boat to meet the demands for company services on the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, a boat which would replace the current vessel that is about 24 feet long and at least 25 years old.
"The boat is over 25 years old, and I don't know if you could pull five people out of the water with it," Martin said.
The City Council approved a resolution in November 2014 to allocate up to $300,000 over four fiscal years to help defray the cost of the boat and the related equipment.
Martin noted during the council meeting that members of the appropriations subcommittee were hearing bond funding requests from groups across the state Saturday, and they asked few questions of the presenters.
He said the legislators asked multiple questions regarding Havre de Grace's boat funding request, however, as they expressed surprise that a fire company boat would be in such great demand in the area when marine resources from the Coast Guard and Maryland Natural Resources Police are also available.
Martin said the Hose Company boat is the closest resource where there is an emergency on the water, first responders are always available and the boat is equipped for multiple types of calls, including fires, first aid, water rescues and recovery.
"If we didn't have the fire boat ready to be deployed, it would be 30, 40 minutes before a boat got to you, and you wouldn't make it," he said.
Martin also stressed that Havre de Grace residents are not the only people the boat serves.
"Most of the people we pull out of the water are Maryland citizens," he said.
Hose Company President Charlie Packard, who also testified in Annapolis, said company officials are looking for a boat that is about 32 feet long, and the projected cost of the boat and equipment would be $450,000 to $475,000.
Packard said company leaders have been seeking the additional money from a variety of sources, including the state.
The municipal funds will come from slip user fees paid by users of boat slips in the city's marinas.
"If we're able to get money elsewhere, we would prefer not to drain that [slip user] account all at once, but the city is working with us as much as they possibly can, so we're thankful for that, too," Packard said.
He said the current boat, which is docked in a slip off Tydings Park, has been used on calls around Havre de Grace, Cecil County and even Kent County for incidents in the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding tributaries.
"We're like the first responders for the Bay," he said.
Packard noted the Hose Company's dive team is frequently requested for calls, and a new boat should be large enough to hold a five-person team, plus each diver's equipment.
He also said company officials want a side-scanning sonar attached to the new boat to assist divers as they look for objects.
"It would be a lot better for recognizing where something may be, as opposed to just going down and feeling for it," Packard explained.
Lisanti said Saturday's testimony took place before the House's Capital Budget Subcommittee, and the bond bills must clear the various committees before they are put before the full House and Senate.
The boat bill will be part of an omnibus spending package that each chamber could take up next week, Lisanti explained.
She said she thought the Havre de Grace representatives "gave a compelling argument," and that she has received letters of support from the city, the Cecil and Harford County executives and the Volunteer Firemen's Association of Harford and Cecil Counties. Her fellow delegates from Cecil County have also signed on to her bill.
"They recognize that this is not a Havre de Grace boat, [but] it is an Upper Bay boat," Lisanti said. "This really does fulfill a need that the state has, as well."