Marina Dock Age

Bennett Brother Yachts at Cape Fear Marina in Wilmington, N.C., will be allowed to dredge parts of its basin, even though it’s located in an area designated as a key nursery for fish, according to a May 23 Star-News report.

Some of the floating docks at the marina now rest on the silted up bottom of the Northeast Cape Fear River at low tide, making slips largely unusable and raising safety concerns for the use of other slips.

“We’re not looking to expand, just maintain what we have right now,” said Tricia Bennett, marina president.

The decision by the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission ran counter to the recommendation from three other state environment agencies – Marine Fisheries, Wildlife Resources Commission and Water Quality, and the Commission’s own Division of Coastal Management staff. All expressed concerns about impacts to the nursery areas if the dredging was allowed to proceed.

The agencies also argued that when the marina opened in 1997, the owners knew they wouldn’t be allowed to dredge down the road because it was located in a primary nursery area.

The majority of the Commission, however, said the issue was a question of fairness, noting that the Army Corps of Engineers is allowed to dredge and maintain the 32-foot deep shipping channel that lies just more than 100 feet from the marina.

Bennett said the worst of the marina’s shoaling problems started about four years ago, although what caused the increased sedimentation remains unknown.

The project calls for dredging an estimated 87,000 cubic square feet of river bottom along the 1,800-foot long marina.

Bennett Brothers attorney Bill Raney said plans call for deepening the side of the floating docks closest to the land to about 4.5 feet, with the dredging extending out until it reaches the river’s natural depth of about 12 feet.

Construction on Paper District Marina in Sandusky, Ohio, could begin in June, according to a May 20 Sandusky Register report.

George Poulos, the city’s chief building inspector, described the pre-construction phase as 85 percent complete.

John Hancock, a city consultant helping with the project, said he wanted to submit a proposed contract between the city and Hoty Builders, the construction company, to the Sandusky City Commission by May 24.

If approved, the $3 million project could begin in June.

The marina will feature 62 slips for mostly transient dockage and a 38,000-square-foot amphitheater.

The project will be built in two phases. The first, $1.5 million phase includes infrastructure construction, such as the marina basin, walls, and armor stone.

The city will fund the first phase using about $800,000 from a Clean Ohio Revitalization Grant and about $700,000 from the Chesapeake TIF, which collects a percentage of the property tax revenues generated by the Chesapeake Lofts project. The money must go back into the Paper District, Hancock said.

The second phase includes the docks and bathhouse. The city hopes to fund that portion through an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) boating grant. The $650,000 grant would need an equal match from the Chesapeake TIF. The city will not know until at least September if it won that grant.

City officials are hopeful that the marina project will be awarded the ODNR grant, but “there’s no 100 percent certainly,” Hancock said.

The first phase will likely take until November, Hancock said. If the city wins the grant for the second phase, the marina could open in 2011.

Two companies that renovated St. Johns Yacht Harbor in Charleston, S.C., are suing the project’s financier, alleging it knew the development was running out of money but allowed them to continue working on it, according to a May 27 report from The Post and Courier.

Crest Industries and Dock & Marine Inc. said they are owed more than $870,000 in unpaid construction bills. They are seeking to collect from National Bank of South Carolina (NBSC), which lent the marina owners money to renovate the docks and build amenities, such as a pool and restaurant.

In December 2009, the bank began foreclosure proceedings on the 225-slip Stono River marina, saying it was owed $25 million by owner Stono Marina Partners.

In court documents, the two builders alleged that the loan was “on the cusp of default” around April 2009, but the bank did not file a foreclosure lawsuit until nine months later. Also, the lender sent representatives to respond to contractor’s payment requests up until late October, even though it knew last summer that there wasn’t enough money to finish the work, according to documents.

“It’s clearly in the bank’s interest to keep these guys working because every day they keep working, it increases the value of the bank’s collateral,” said attorney Ben Peeples, who represents Dock & Marine.

NBSC attorney John Hagerty denied the allegations.

A hearing on the case was scheduled for June 1.

Ripley Light Drystack Marina in Charleston, S.C., completed renovations to its scaffolding to allow it to hold boats weighing up to 20,000 pounds, according to a May 29 report from The Post and Courier.

The $2 million renovations on the dry stack facility was completed in early May. Bruce Wallace, director of operations, estimates the dry stack can accommodate 100 boats that are 35 feet or longer.

Deas Manning of Carolina Dockage Properties, who is marketing the marina, said that even though the economic recession has hurt the boating industry, the facility’s renovation will outlast the recession. “It wasn’t built just for today,” he said.

Even with the slowdown, the marina is about 75 percent occupied.

The original 180-slip dry stack facility was built in 1998. Last year, rust began eating away at the structure, which had an awkward and inefficient interior configuration, Manning said.

Construction workers demolished the building and replaced it with six open-air stacks.

A waiting list for boats 36 feet and longer has led developer Port Ludlow Associates to propose the addition of a new dock with 66 slips at Port Ludlow Marina in Port Ludlow, Wash. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now has an application and sought public comments until the end of May, according to a May 24 Peninsula Daily News report.

“The community continues to grow, and [even] with the slowdown in the economy, the waiting list remains,” said Kori Ward, marina manager. She also said with the sluggish economy, the waiting list has shrunk to a year-and-a-half wait, compared to a three-year wait five years ago.

The marina expansion proposal calls for extending a new F Dock from the west half of the marina, expanding the current 280-slip marina. Slips for boats up to 60 feet long would be added. The project would also include adding wheelchair ramps, replacing the kayak floats, fuel dock, and dinghy and seaplane floats. About 60 pilings will have to be driven for the project.

The project could cost between $2 million and $4 million, according to Miriam Villiard, Port Ludlow Associates marina project lead.

The plans were developed to reduce the shade created over shallow waters in the marina, which benefits salmon habitat. New and replaced structures would also be grated to allow light to reach the water.

Work would be conducted during the state Department of Fish and Wildlife window for salmon migration July 16 to Feb. 15, but only after securing the Corps permit. Villiard said the developer will also need a shoreline permit from the Jefferson County Department of Community Development.

Hagadone Hospitality received its federal permit in April to begin renovating the Marina Yacht Club on Blackwell Island in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, according to a April 13 report from The (Spokane, Wash.) Spokesman-Review.

After the expansion, the marina will have 420 slips, new offices, and higher ground for future residential development. The work will take place over six years but must occur during low-water periods in fall and winter, said John Barlow, a Hagadone Hospitality executive.

The company will dredge 142,000 cubic yards of material from the lake bottom, depositing clean material on Blackwell Island. The 18,000 cubic yards tainted with heavy metals from upstream mining activity will be taken to a landfill.

Environmental groups objected to Hagadone Hospitality’s earlier plans to dispose of the tainted soil in lined pits on the island. In January, company officials agreed to take that soil to an offsite landfill.

Tailrace Marina in Mount Holly, N.C., on Lake Wylie, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 10, three days after receiving the final approvals for many of its boat slips, according to a report in The Lake Wylie Pilot.

The new marina, built by Mooresville, N.C.-based Rowboat Dock & Dredge, includes 191 slips, both covered and uncovered with dockage up to 31 feet. Of those slips, 67 were set aside for the nearby Riverfront residential community, and 124 slips will be leased to the public. The docks include boatlifts and personal watercraft berths, along with security gates.

The marina also plans to have a fuel and ship store, along with a dockside restaurant run by Midtown Sundries. This year the marina expects to add the fuel dock, pumpout station, restaurant, Wi-Fi service, four picnic areas with grills, laundry, showers and restrooms, a pet walking area, and a vessel maintenance program and rentals for pontoons, kayaks, and canoes.

Shadows Marina in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., had a soft opening May 1. The 55-slip marina is part of a larger waterfront development project and hopes to increase tourism by attracting seasonal and transient boaters, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal report.

The marina was a $3 million project, spearheaded by the Bonura family, whose $69 million public-private partnership with the city of Poughkeepsie will bring restaurants, a spa, and retail and office space to the development, adjoining the marina. The project costs for the marina include the marina building, landscaping, paving, and a river walkway, which should all be completed this summer.

The marina’s 450-foot paved walkway will eventually connect with the city’s planned river pathway to Victor C. Waryas Park.

The Bonuras secured permits for the marina in two a half years from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, and the City of Poughkeepsie. They received the final permit in February.

The city Industrial Development Agency is leasing the property to the Bonuras’ company, JM Development Group. Officials said the deal includes payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements with the Bonuras – essentially tax breaks the developer needs for the project to be completed.

Local marina operators said the mid-Hudson Valley is a prime area for boating and report slips are usually at or nearly filled to capacity.

Joe Bonura Jr., who is part owner of a significant section of Newburgh waterfront including two marinas and a restaurant, knows from experience that marinas create economic opportunities.

“There are hundreds of boats in the Newburgh waterfront. We have about 400 slips in Newburgh, and we had zero in the city of Poughkeepsie. We needed something,” said Bonura.

Not everyone, like commercial fisherman John Mylod, agree with the Shadows Marina development. He accused the Planning Board of pushing the project through without thorough review. “It’s a very large installation in a section of river that is not a good location for a marina…It can be very choppy,” said Mylod.

Shadows Marina uses a wave attenuator to reduce wave impact and protect boats. The marina is made of extruded aluminum that will be broken down and removed in the winter to avoid damage from ice.

About half of the seasonal slips were already booked at the marina’s May opening.

Hoping to attract boaters to the waterfront for a few hours or overnight, Shadows Marina offers transient slips accommodating about 50 boaters depending on the size of the vessels, Bonura said.

Private restrooms with showers and laundry will be added this summer.

Bonura said the marina will not be a shipyard, storing or launching boats. “We’re more interested in tourism activities, not the behind the scenes marina business,” he said.

Since February, work on Clarksville Marina in Clarksville Tenn., had stalled when subcontractor Rust of Kentucky walked off the job site just days before filing for bankruptcy. Finally, by the end of April, city contractor TMS Contracting was given the go-ahead to hire a replacement to continue dirt work, including excavation of the basin itself, according to an April 30 report in The Leaf-Chronicle.

TMS had been waiting for a decision from Zurich, the surety company that insured Rust’s contract to completion. TMS president Thom Spigner said Zurich provided his company with funding to hire a replacement – one of three possible outcomes of Zurich’s deliberations. Spigner said Zurich could have chosen to complete the work itself, or it could have hired one of its own contractors to finish the job.

Civil Constructors was chosen to fulfill Rust’s contract. Joe Rodgers, president of Civil Constructors, said at the end of April that he hoped work would begin within a week to 10 days.

While awaiting Rust’s replacement, TMS hasn’t been idle. Because TMS was contracted for each phase of construction, it was able to continue work in other areas, even though the basin excavation – scheduled as phase one – had stopped.

Spigner said work on a park boardwalk was “well underway,” and construction had begun on a building that would serve as the main hub for the entire site’s electrical needs. He could not give a definitive timeline on completion because the recovery calendar still needed to be made, but added, “We still believe we can finish this project this calendar year.”

Until about mid-April, marina operator Greg Batts said he was working with a July 8 projected date for the basin being turned over to him, ready for marina construction. Once the basin is ready, Batts said, he needs 10 to 12 weeks to build the marina and open it for business. If handed over on July 8, the marina would open in late September or early October.

Batts said 120 slips are already reserved, and 144 to 200 slips will be ready by summer. He also said if the opening date keeps pushing further into fall, he may build the slips out in smaller stages, as boat owners become ready to move in.

On April 16, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the award of more than $12 million in competitive grants to ten states for 13 boating infrastructure projects. The grants, which will help fund the construction of docks, boat slips, and other facilities to support recreation boating, are made available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program.

Funding for the BIG program comes from the Sport Fishing and Boating Trust Fund, formerly known as the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which is supported by excise taxes on certain fishing and boating equipment and boat fuels.

BIG funds are used to construct, renovate, and maintain tie-up facilities with features for transient boats (those staying 10 days or less) that are 26 feet or more in length and used for recreation. The funds are also used to produce and distribute information and educational materials about the program and recreational boating.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife received 22 eligible applications from 13 states. The 13 winning projects include:

• The California Dept. of Boating and Waterways, in cooperation with the Monterey Bay Boatworks Company, will receive $391,000 and match that amount with $433,300 to construct 603 feet of transient dock space and amenities at Breakwater Cove Marina in Monterey Bay.
• The California Dept. of Boating and Waterways, in cooperation with Treasure Island Marina, will receive $1,949,750 and match that amount with $2,237,250 to construct a 750-foot transient dock with vacuum sewage disposal, handicap access to the landside restroom, shower and laundry areas, water, power, and fire suppression.
• The California Dept. of Boating and Waterways, in cooperation with Channel Island Harbor, will receive $700,400 and match that same amount to replace an existing dock and gangway with 26 boat slips, a new dump station and pumpout, and ADA accessible restrooms and showers at Peninsula Park Transient Dock Facility in Oxnard.
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), in cooperation with Rybovich Marina in West Palm Beach, Fla., will receive $1,247,705 and match that same amount to replace a bulkhead seawall and construct a floating dock with 2,948 feet of dockage for up to 112 transient vessels.
• FWC, in cooperation with the city of Rivera Beach, will receive $1,780,823 and match that amount with $1,800,825 to provide the first dedicated transient overnight dockage and day dockage for up to 42 vessels at Riviera Beach Municipal Marina.
• The Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management, in cooperation with the city of Michigan City and its Port Authority, will receive $1,480,895 and match that amount with $1,545,000 to install 36 transient slips and dock facilities at Michigan City’s Washington Park Marina on Lake Michigan.
• The Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources, in cooperation with the city of Paducah, will receive $900,000 and match that amount with $320,000 to construct a 400-foot dock with 26 slips and a fuel dock along the Ohio River.
• The state New Jersey Dept. of Transportation, in cooperation with the Township of Brick, will receive $807,051 and match that amount with $482,722 to construct a 550-foot dock, a handicap accessible lift, and associated upland support facilities in the Trader’s Cove Marina in the Township of Brick.
• The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, in cooperation with the Clayton Local Development Corporation, will receive $1,114,586 and match that amount with $626,956 to construct a transient dock facility along the St. Lawrence River, featuring restrooms, shower and laundry facilities at the Clayton Transient Dock Facility in Clayton.
• The North Carolina Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Beaufort Harbor Marina and Yacht Club and the Carteret County Economic Development Foundation, will receive $455,176 and match that amount with $506,176 to construct 50 transient slips and other amenities along Beaufort’s Town Creek.
• The Oregon State Marine Board, in cooperation with the Port of Coos Bay, will receive $645,000 and match that amount with $742,500 to provide transient slips for 13 vessels up to 55 feet in length and 449 feet of broadside tie-up space, with direct gangway connection to the Charleston Marina Complex.
• The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, in cooperation with the city of Clarksville, will receive $325,956 and match that amount with $325,955 to construct a dock, anchoring system, and gangway with utilities on the Cumberland River in Clarksville.
• The Virginia Department of Health, in cooperation with the Rockett’s Landing Marina, will receive $240,034 and match that same amount to add 15 transient slips, riprap embankment stabilization, full-service diesel and gasoline pumps, restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities along the James River in Richmond.