MATTAPOISETT — The Mattapoisett Harbormaster Department’s boat is still awaiting repairs after it was damaged by storms last winter, and now the department is seeking to purchase a boat better suited for the job. 

Harbormaster Jill Simmons appeared before the Board of Selectmen on Monday seeking approval to purchase the boat. In August, the department borrowed a loaner boat from Mattapoisett Fire Rescue, but hopes a new boat will perform tasks more efficiently. 

Simmons said the Harbormaster boat, a 13-year-old 25-foot Sea-Hawk, was damaged by coastal storms last winter and has been awaiting repairs for several months. Though the repairs will likely be completed this winter, Simmons suggested that the boat has never been the right fit for the job.

Selectman Paul Silva was skeptical of approving the purchase and asked Simmons why the department needed a new Harbormaster boat.  

“The Sea-Hawk is a nice boat for fishing in Buzzards Bay on a nice day,” said Simmons. She added, however, that the Sea-Hawk is not well equipped to appropriately deal with rougher water or the work that the department does.

According to Simmons, the new boat would solve those issues. 

“This boat will do a lot of work for us that we can’t do ourselves,” Simmons responded. “Something like this would be a huge benefit to our operation.”

Vice Chair Tyler Macallister agreed with Simmons that the Sea-Hawk is not the right piece of equipment for the harbor. 

“Focus has been to get the waterfront working better and more efficiently for the last four or five years,” said Macallister. “We’re making small progress but we need to get the equipment in the harbor proper for what the harbor’s needs are.”

According to Chair Jordan Collyer, the new boat would cost approximately $85,000. 

Silva said that he would not sign off on spending any money for a boat unless it went to Town Meeting for approval. Macallister agreed and said that the purchase should be added to a future Town Meeting agenda. 

Simmons is also seeking to purchase a pump out boat for the department, which would service the harbor and empty the waste tanks of other boats. 

The first option presented to the board was to purchase a 19-foot boat for about $19,500. The Selectmen ultimately decided that a larger, 23-foot boat would be better suited for the work that needs to be performed on the water.

Town Administrator Michael Gagne said the larger boat would cost about $10,000 more, but that a total has not been determined. Selectmen did determine that the town could repurpose the Sea-Hawk’s motor for use in the pump out boat, which would drive down the cost. 

The town would only be required to pay 25 percent of the pump out boat’s cost due to a state program which pays 75 percent of the cost, up to $75,000. 

Gagne suggested that both issues could be added to the upcoming fall Town Meeting. Selectmen approved a motion to add the Harbormaster’s boat and the pump out boat to the warrant, with the caveat that they look into repurposing the Sea-Hawk motor.