Boaters oppose city’s marina plan
Group disputes numbers; city staff says measures are financially responsible and necessary
MARQUETTE — Local boaters are bringing to a public hearing Monday demands for greater transparency and fairness surrounding plans to downsize the Presque Isle Marina and raise rates for boat slips, while city staff say the measures are financially responsible and necessary.
Passed in October, the plan for the two marinas will increase rates by 15 percent in 2018 and 5 percent annually through 2024, reduce the number of boat slips at Presque Isle by 40 percent, reduce amenities, and implement a long-term financial plan to minimize reliance on the city’s general fund.
Members of the Presque Isle Concerned Citizens group, who said they were founded in 2012 to work to “properly rebuild the Presque Isle Marina,” vigorously opposed the plan.
Boater Mike Zorza of Chocolay Township said it’s a “plan to fail.”
The measure passed in a 4-2 vote Oct. 31 with commissioners Sara Cambensy and Mike Frazier opposing.
The public hearing at Monday’s regular 6 p.m. Marquette City Commission meeting is to update the Recreation Master Plan with the latest marina developments, so that staff can move ahead with a grant application through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Waterways Commission to rebuild Presque Isle Marina in 2018 with just one pier.
Also on the agenda is consideration of a lease for network equipment for the new Municipal Service Center and a grant application for new voting equipment.
“I’m tired of hearing how the marinas cost the city and taxpayers money,” said Jim Hetrick, slip-holder at Presque Isle Marina and member of the citizens group. “We have every one of their annual financial reports from 1971, and they keep talking about general fund contributions? If you back out all their general fund contributions, the marina is positive, positive until they put in a new launch ramp, which they now say is not really part of the marinas.”
Hetrick provided The Mining Journal with marina budget documents back to 1971 that he obtained from the city through the Freedom of Information Act. The documents are consistent with numbers provided by the city.
The documents show the marina in the black most years, with significant general fund contributions starting in 2000 and ending in 2011.
The Cinder Pond Marina was built in 1995, using $135,000 from built-up revenue surplus in the Presque Isle Marina fund to match grant funding, according to the documents.
Chief Finanacial Officer Gary Simpson said between 1995 and 2010, the marina funds weren’t separated, so it’s impossible to discern to which marina the general fund money was going.
According to the budget documents, a $405,000 capital outlay expense in 2015, which staff confirmed was for the Presque Isle boat launch, put the Presque Isle Marina fund further in the red than it had ever been. General fund contributions ceased in 2012, and the marina fund experienced a deficit of $114,000 in 2013 due to dredging, and $394,000 in 2015, due to the boat launch.
“Near as I can tell, they charged Presque Isle Marina $400,000 the same year they put that launch ramp in and then said it’s no longer part of the marina,” Hetrick said, adding, “One launch ramp in city is all that’s needed.”
Under the plan going forward, the general fund will subsidize the boat launches at both marinas as public park facilities at approximately $7,000 per year.
The two-marina replacement plan covers three generations of each marina through a rebuild of Cinder Pond in 2024. Staff and the three-member Harbor Advisory Committee said in recommending the plan that they were following guidance from the Waterways Commission to: reduce reliance on grant funding, build to less-than demand and minimize duplication of services.
The plan will only replace a single pier at Presque Isle Marina, cutting the number of slips available from 56 to 32, and eliminate fuel services and on-site staffing.
Consideration of an additional pier system would be triggered when there is a $350,000 replacement fund balance and 50 boats on the waiting list between both marinas.
Assistant Director of Community Services Jon Swenson said with the necessary rate increases, it’s difficult to predict future slip demand, which is why the city is downsizing.
Members of the concerned citizens group claim if the loan to build the Cinder Pond had been repaid back to Presque Isle, that would amount to more than $375,000 now. And separately, if the boat launch hadn’t been covered by the marina fund, the fund would be up $321,000 now.
Hetrick said that’s because boaters have been paying premium rates all along.
“That’s what ticks us off. We can prove from their own numbers the taxpayers in Marquette haven’t been supporting the marina. Their own numbers show it,” Hetrick said.
Simpson said from his assessment, the marinas have been subsidized significantly.
“Maybe not each and every year, but … overall, at least from everything I’ve seen, the general fund’s contributed quite a bit of money to the marinas,” Simpson said.
Members of the group also say the city is not applying for all the grants it could; that staff strong-armed the HAC into supporting the plan, causing multiple resignations; and that it’s refusing to provide documented proof it will back out of a Brownfield plan to build a third marina at the new Founder’s Landing development downtown.
City Manager Mike Angeli has publicly stated the city does not plan to build another marina at Founder’s Landing, and will use the existing pilings for less costly public access as part of DNR requirements.
“The original concept provided by the architect during the Brownfield funding process included a marina in concept only,” Angeli said in an email.
In response to the strong-arming accusation, Swenson said in an email city staff are tasked with providing the necessary information and facts for committees to advise policy.
“The Harbor Advisory Committee was tasked with presenting a responsible rate structure resulting in sustainable facilities and a replacement fund,” Swenson said.
Other grant opportunities either do not apply to the Lake Superior basin, require 100 percent transient slip use or are for facilities with significant commercial/industrial use base, he added.
Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.
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