Beached boat in Foster City to be removed

Hall said staff reached out to the boat owner last week based on the vessel registration number and scheduled a telephone meeting for Tuesday, June 22. The city will meet with the owner’s friend to discuss the removal process and get further details. Hall said the city still doesn’t know why or how the boat is out there or what role Foster City will play in the removal process, although the owner is typically responsible for removing abandoned vessels. Hall said the owner’s side has indicated they are committed to removing the boat.

“We are going to know a lot more after our meeting tomorrow,” Hall said Monday.

While the boat is not an environmental hazard, is not endangering the public or affecting the construction progress on the levee, Foster City officials want to remove it. Hall said since the city became aware of the vessel, it has been working with the various agencies with jurisdiction in the Bay about removal. These include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard and San Mateo County.

While Foster City is working with the owner on a solution, jurisdiction questions remain about what government agency is responsible for removal if the owner had not been found or in similar situations in the future. Several jurisdictions the city has been in contact with about the boat are not claiming responsibility for the current removal.

Tammy Reed, deputy chief of public affairs with the San Francisco office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said because the boat is not considered a hazard in the navigation channels, it will not be handling removal. She noted this type of removal was not part of its mission. These situations are typically dealt with by a local agency or commercial entity, like a boat towing company. The Army Corps typically handles problems in the deep waters of the navigation channel, where boats travel back and forth. Reed said San Mateo County is within the Army Corps San Francisco office jurisdiction but was unaware of its involvement.

Michelle Durand, the chief communications officer with San Mateo County, said the county didn’t believe this was its jurisdiction. Jim Pruett, general manager with the San Mateo County Harbor District, said if an abandoned vessel washes up on county land with no owner identified, it’s the county’s responsibility, but he did not believe it is based on the location description. If a boat washes up on city land, it is the city’s responsibility.

“Whoever owns the land, owns the boat. Unless they can find the owner,” Pruett said.

Aaron Coffin, an operations unit controller with the Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Command Center, said the Coast Guard was aware of the situation but was not responsible for boat removal. The owner is typically responsible for salvaging the boat. In cases like this, the Coast Guard usually sends a team out to ensure it is not a pollution threat and that there are no threats to life. It also does a welfare check and vessel registration number check.

Hall said Foster City would continue to work with agencies with jurisdiction in the Bay on the removal process.

“We are working through those discussions, but that’s as far as we have gotten,” Hall said.

The city acknowledged the situation was very unusual, and Hall did not know of any current city staff who had dealt with this process before.

“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often,” Hall said.

Jim Kelly, a resident of San Mateo, first saw the boat May 28 in its current position. Since then, the boat had been marooned right behind the retaining wall for the Foster City levee every time he looks out at the area. Since Kelly first saw the boat, the ropes holding it to the rocks slip a little further out into the Bay as it sits. He has not seen an owner come to claim it or any government agency examine it. He theorized the boat possibly drifted from Coyote Point or Hayward.

“I’m just surprised it is there a month later,” Kelly said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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