Before Selectmen approve the Marine Advisory Board’s updated rules and regulations, there are still a number of areas that need to be settled.

Selectmen Jordan Collyer and Paul Silva spoke with Marine Advisory Board Chair Alan Gillis at their Tuesday meeting.

Grandfathered moorings have been an area of much discussion in recent months as the Marine Advisory Board has attempted to define them.

“There really wasn’t a good definition of what a grandfathered mooring is,” said Gillis.

He said the only “real legs” for the moorings, which were established in April 1989, was that they can be left unoccupied and that the mooring holder can allow someone to use their mooring indefinitely with proper paperwork.

The new regulations would restrict the number of times a grandfathered mooring can be transferred before it reverts to a normal mooring, and it would define what family members can receive the mooring.

Harbormaster Jill Simmons would like to see more restrictions on the grandfathered moorings, especially when they aren’t in use.

“You’re not taking care of the rest of the general public,” she said.

Simmons said there are around 50 people on the mooring waiting list. She also said that grandfathered moorings are sometimes rented illegally.

That is one subject, the Selectmen plan to discuss further with the Marine Advisory Board at their November meeting.

The subject of self-inspection of moorings has also been a hot topic. Many mooring holders do their own inspections rather than using a certified inspector.

“I really don’t have an issue with it as long as it doesn’t become a problem,” said Gillis.

Selectman were not opposed to self-inspections, but they wanted to make sure anyone found falsifying their records or with a boat that came loose, had “serious consequences.”

“Let’s penalize the people that are doing it wrong,” said Silva.

Collyer agreed, saying each person doing a self-inspected mooring should be notified of the legal consequences if the mooring fails.

He added, “I have no problem putting a sum of money in the harbormaster’s line to hire someone to go out and do a random inspection. There needs to be a checks and balance on this.”

The Selectmen will discuss the rules and regulations in greater detail at the November Marine Advisory Board meeting with plans to vote on the final draft at the Selectmen’s December meeting.