b"C H A P T E R F I V EAt first, Friends President Joan Kimball astutely reached out to officials in town to tell them that FSHW had waterways on its mind. Writing to the chairman of the Conservation Commission, John Doane, she listed committees already formed by her board. Number 1 was a group assigned to be looking at concerns relating to harbor use. It would intend to be in close touch with Town boards and the Harbormaster, as well as with the Waterways Committee, once it was operational. In a letter to Selectman Litchfield, she reminded him that FSHW members had voted that fall of '83 to look into such relevant matters as (1) possible pollution of the harbor; (2) use of the waterways; and (3) long range use of the harbor and its lands.Early on, though, FSHW had a mix of projects on its mindpollution control, whether to help the town pay for a second patrol boat and to cover expenses of the new town laboratory, rebuilding a bulkhead at OMBY, increasing membership (100 as of winter 84), cranking up a newsletter and public relations (the latter to be handled by board member Doug Rhodes), pursuing tax exempt status, and, in Joan Kimballs words, solidifying our structure.Meanwhile, as Bill Litchfield had forecast, another new player had run out on the field: the Waterways Advisory Committee. In months to come, the Friends and W A. C. would find that they had kindred missions among other items on their respective agendas. If any territorial skirmishing took place, it was never of famous proportions.Birth of the Waterways Advisory Committee (W.A.C.)As Richard C. Hiscock remembers, several of us had been pushing the idea (of a waterways committee) for some time when the Board of Selectmen acted on the proposal in November 1983 and formally created the body. There had been no charge to do it from Town Meeting, but the then-existent Departmental Reorganization Committee had urged that the step be taken. Six men were appointed to the new board, and Hiscock was picked to be chairman.As a starter, selectmen gave W A. C. a specific assignment: write guidelines for reviewing and approving private piers. The Ebb Tide Motel, now Oyster Pond at Chatham condominiums, on Route 28, had been pushing for permission to thrust a pier out into Oyster Pond.Opponents had no use for that, and the selectmen joined with them. But the board, said Hiscock, did so without any criteria or guidelines.Town Counsel advised that that was a risky way to operate, and selectmen took his message to heart.As an outcome, WA.C. spent the winter of '83-'84laying out a list of requirements.62"