[Bboa-members] Waterfront committee Meeting, tonight! Discussing %5 fee hike

[Paul Kamen]

On 3/14/2007 at 6:13 PM Zach Nobel wrote:

>Anyone going to the marina meeting tonight at 7pm?
>They're planning to discuss the 5year forecast of marina , as well as %5 
>fee hike. I encourage folks to attend & inquire what benefits will the fee 
>hike provide.
>FYI,
>Zach

==============================

Zach and BBOA: Amazingly, there was no-one there tonight to speak to the probable 5% increase. 

To summarize what I see as the marina's long-term options:

1) Continue to increase berth rates by 5% to 10% per year, possibly more. (Status quo, more or less, but relies on the shaky assumption that vacancy will not increase as a result of rate increases, and that we can get by without paying for major dredging for at least another three years.)

2) Go with a privatization arrangement as proposed by Pacific Marina Development. (Rates go up even faster, topping out at whatever the private operator sees as market level and then some, but some services would probably improve.)

3) Significantly increase lease revenue by allowing development of a new hotel at or near the site of Hs. Lordships restaurant. (Parking and traffic would suffer somewhat, but security situation would be much improved, especially on the south side at night.)

4) Convince to the City to allow the Marina to run at a deficit until it returns to break-even. (Not a very easy sell, and leaves the Marina Fund with big debts to pay off.) 

I like number three best. It's the most economical for berthers, in the long run, and the improved safety and security that a hotel would bring to the south side after hours is badly needed. City Council has to buy in to the idea of another hotel on the waterfront, though. 

Something we all can to for some medium-term cost savings: Thursday evening, March 15 (tomorrow or tonight, depending on when you are reading this) is the next "Scoping Meeting" for the Berkeley Ferry. This is at 6:30 pm at the Albany Library on Marin Ave. There is no presentation by WTA other than a few posters and a short introduction. Berkeley and Albany residents will be invited to speak on what the selection criteria should be for choosing the ferry terminal site from four candidate locations. This always seems to devolve into advocacy speeches for one site over another, and most of the debate will probably be about the Gilman and Buchanan sites north of the Marina. But these are all but out of the picture anyway. We need to start lobbying for the right ferry terminal site in Berkeley. See my opinion piece in the Tuesday edition of the Daily Planet.

The two main candidate sites remaining are: A) Near Hs. Lordships on the outside (probably requiring a new breakwater south of the fishing pier); and B) Near the Doubletree Hotel and the Hornblower docks on the inside of the Marina. We should all advocate for the inside location, at or near the Doubletree, for two reasons of special concern to the Marina Fund: 

1) Locating the terminal near Hs. Lordships would make it much more difficult to site a second hotel at the Marina, eliminating the best option for pulling the Marina out of the red without placing all the burden on the berthers. That area is the only place with enough land and parking that has a view of the Bay and is not protected as park. Expensive hotel rooms with great views means more revenue into the Marina Fund and more commercial activity at other Marina restaurants, also generating more cash flow. This is a very good reason to favor the Doubletree site.

2) Locating the ferry terminal near Doubletree, or anywhere inside the harbor, will insure that the channel is maintained at a reasonable depth for larger boats without breaking the Marina's budget. This is becoming a very big deal. The channel depth outside the harbor, which has never been included in previous dredging projects, is going to be a significant liability if the Marina Fund has to pay for it. This is already reducing the Marina's viability for larger or more modern sailboats. (Plus it makes economic sense from the ferry operator's POV to use as much of the existing infrastructure as possible.) 

See you at the meeting tomorrow night. Show up a little early if you would like to discuss other marina issues with me informally. 






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Paul Kamen
Berkeley Waterfront Commission
510-540-7968  510-219-8106 (cell)
pk at well.com   www.BerkeleyWaterfront.org