Wiscasset Waterfront Committee members voiced support Aug. 25 for replacing the harbor master’s boat the town recently sold. But the harbor master, Preston Dunning, explained he doesn’t know when or if it will happen.

In a phone interview Aug. 26, Selectmen’s Chairman Judy Colby said the board has made no decision but will likely talk about the matter. She has reached no opinion on whether or not the town should get another boat.

“I want to get all the facts, and the input from the other board members. There’ll be a discussion, and then a decision will be made by the board,” Colby said.

The last boat needed repairs, officials have said. Selectmen voted July 26 to sell it to East Boothbay’s Matt Carter for his high bid of $13,401.  Waterfront committee member David Gagnon told fellow members Aug. 25, he figured the town would use the sale money to replace the boat.

“I do believe we need something,” Gagnon said.

“I think we all sort of agree with that,” Chairman Susan Robson responded.

“Not a skiff, something we can help people with, something we can tow people with, something we can maintain at the town garage,” Gagnon said.

Robson said the town should get one that’s less than 22 feet, to keep insurance costs down.

Members discussed possibly recommending a boat if Dunning had something specific in mind. However, Dunning and Town Planner Ben Averill said any recommendation would need to come from Dunning, as a town employee, who would take it to Town Manager Marian Anderson. It would then need approval from selectmen and voters. That’s how capital spending is handled in any department, Averill said.

“(A proposal) would be coming from Preston’s office as the harbor master, which would be separate from the waterfront committee,” he said.

Dunning concurred, and said as far as he understood, the town wasn’t ready to start looking for a boat.

As the end of the boating season nears, this could be a good time to get one on sale, Robson and member Dick Forrest said.