Delinquent accounts at the Town Harbor, predominantly associated with commercial waterman total close to $77K as of the end of August 2015. Many of the accounts are several years old and are associated with out of state residents.
The Town is currently focusing efforts to collect these debts by payment agreements, Warrants in Debt/Court Judgments, liens on Federal documented vessels, etc.
The Town has obtained 5 Warrants in Debt from the Northampton General District Court, winning 4 Judgments thus far. After obtaining a Judgment the Town must request seizure and sale of assets if the defendant does not pay. So far, 8 liens have been filed with the National Vessel Documentation Center. Efforts here hope to make the vessel harder to mortgage or sell the vessel without first satisfying the debt. The town currently holds the title to the abandoned sailboat, Adhara, which will be auctioned.
The Town has recovered $9K thus far.
What the town needs to do is send a letter to each person that owes the town money from the harbor. If they don’t pay what they owe within 30 days then the town should put their names on a billboard. That will make them pay their bills.