Marine Patrol ticket issued after night digging in West Bath; sheriff’s representative says town will continue seasonal enforcement

A local community meeting on West Bath matters heard an account that Marine Patrol issued a ticket to a person found night digging in a state-closed area, and a representative of the sheriff’s department described staffing changes intended to support enforcement.

The sheriff’s department representative said Marine Patrol issued a citation before local officers located the person, indicating the area had been closed. “We got Gary got a call … he found him up at the place where they sell and stuff to Chris … The guy got a ticket by Marine Patrol,” the representative said during the meeting.

The speaker said the department is hiring “four or five more people” and that he has switched from patrol to reserve duties, performing prisoner transports and having more daytime availability for enforcement-related work.

Participants described uncertainty about the exact administrative closure date for digging in certain state-managed areas, with several attendees offering different dates. One participant said the area is a state closure and added that some visitors “literally had a blanket set up with basket and a dog” while digging.

Speakers said enforcement activity tends to decline while ice persists but predicted some activity may occur when ponds are frozen. One participant said the area is often a “gray area” because of tidal changes and agreed that draining or otherwise disturbing monitored flats would be illegal.

The meeting did not record a formal vote or ordinance; attendees said incident details and the citation are held by an individual identified in discussion as Garrett, who was described as having the detailed report. The community scheduled follow-up contact and the next meeting for the last Wednesday of January.

The meeting transcript contains differing recollections about closure dates and other procedural details; officials at the meeting urged residents to call local contacts with concerns and said enforcement presence would increase as staffing levels rise.