OK, I know that newspapers sensationalize stuff just to get people going but let me see if I got this right?
City Marina - commercial business, gets 1.5M grant from taxpayer account (supposed to go towards access for recreational boating) to add 150+ slips and dockage. All so the city can earn more money by charging people what, $50/k a year for a slip? Boy, I’d like to get some grant to build a house and a fleet of vehicles for my business to help me make more money too!
Why isn’t that money going toward dredging Bushy park or maybe adding a new boat launch somewhere?
THis bothers me as well. Taxes collected from marine fuel are supposed to be used to benefit public recreational boating, not private marinas. The City Marina property is owned by the city but leased to a private enterprise that charges to use it’s facility. It’s not open to the public as are the county ramps and does not benefit the public. In fact, the marina expansion adversely effects public waterways and public boating. A letter to our US senators is being sent to indicate my displeasure with what I consider to be misuse of public funds.
I don't know how much slip fees are there. I used to work there, and I can tell you they were nowhere close to $4200 / month. I'm pretty sure they were closer to $12 / ft / month with a 30' minimum, which would make a 30' boat $360 / month.
It is primarily a transient marina, but if you are using it for a weekend to kick around downtown and stay on your boat, you won't be put on the far end of a megadock. That's all I was trying to get across.