New London — Seven potential operators for a proposed water taxi on the Thames River attended a meeting at Crocker’s Boatyard on Wednesday to see the recently acquired boats and ask questions about the planned service.

The meeting was hosted by members of the Thames River Heritage Park Transition Team, which is organizing the multi-site park and water taxi service.

Potential operators of the service who expressed interested in responding to a Request for Proposals issued in December came from as far as New York, the transition team said in a news release.

During the meeting, transition team members gave an overview of the park and plans for the water taxis, while the prospective operators asked several questions.

They then examined the boats, which are being stored at the boatyard.

Groton City Mayor Marian Galbraith, a member of the transition team, said she was pleased with the turnout and the lively discussion about the boats, which are surplus Navy vessels.

“This is exactly the kind of response we hoped for,” she said. “They quality of the interested operators is terrific and they questions they asked were right on target and will help us proceed with this exciting project.”

The Request for Proposals is available at www.seccog.org. Questions and answers from Wednesday's meeting will be posted on the same website. Proposals must be submitted by Feb. 16.

For information, contact James Butler at (860) 889-2324 or by email at JButler@seccog.org.