Public comment is being taken until Aug. 3 on the proposed reduction from full-time to seasonal status of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Station Milford Haven.

The proposed seasonal status was made public in a Gazette-Journal article last week, and Lt. Cmdr. Katherine M. Blue, Public Affairs Officer at U.S. Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic Region, Portsmouth, said the Coast Guard did not provide notice about the planned downgrade in the Federal Register and contacted only one Mathews official about it, Mathews County Board of Supervisors’ chairman Mike Rowe.
Blue said in an email that the reason for the limited notification was that the station is not being consolidated with another station, and therefore won’t be closed completely. The plan is to redistribute boats to other stations, she said, “which will increase training opportunities for personnel, improve proficiency, and enhance operational readiness.”Blue provided a chart with the number of search and rescue operations Station Milford Haven ...