Inmate Timothy O’Neill hacks away at immense undergrowth that had been impeding some of the nautical views of Sandwich Marina and the canal and Atlantic beyond
SANDWICH – Deceased harbormaster David Whearty would be pleased to learn about a project this week undertaken at his former workplace, better known as the Sandwich Marina.
Whearty, who passed away unexpectedly in mid July, had mentioned more than once that overgrown vegetation was creating a public safety problem at the marina. It turns out his view from the harbormaster’s shack to the boat launch had become impeded by invasive and wildly growing undergrowth. Trying to see through it to the docking area’s far-left-hand and far-right-hand sides had become problematic as well.
Inmate Isiah Martin joins O’Neill here
It’s a frustration Whearty had shared with Doug Dexter, a former marina employee and prior to that a Marine lieutenant colonel and decorated Vietnam veteran. When that word got back to Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings, the sheriff decided to do something about it.
Two inmates do final cleanup on other side of the boat ramp, one equally overgrown until the chainsaws moved in. Inmate Michael Bryant (center) attacks the last of a fair-sized stump while Jason Frazier applies a weed killer that should prevent or at least slow regrowth.
He quickly dispatched a four-man inmate work crew, which spent two days hacking away bushes that had grown so wide at the base they looked like small trees. The entire, intertwined outcropping had come to resemble a sub-Saharan jungle.
It’s gone now. Succeeding harbormasters, and all townspeople for that matter, have their iconic, techno-color harbor back.
Says Sheriff Cummings, “I’m sure David Whearty would find it a much better vantage point.”
O’Neill uses a pitchfork to distribute the hackings, which have been loaded onto a flat-bed trailer. Note the top of a boat as it passes by en route to the launch area.
Media release and photos furnished by Barnstable Sheriff’s Office
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