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

Thu Mar 15 09:12:45 PST 2007

All,
Did BYC come to a conclusion regarding a bid to manage N and O dock?

It seems the only benefit of a inside ferry terminal is dredging paid by the
ferry operator. Would this be a required part of their lease? Do the Ferry
wakes add to the wear and tear on the docks? What happens to the overall
traffic and parking because of the combined load from both a new Hotel and
Ferry service? Parking is already scarce at times and there was talk about
expanding planted areas consuming existing parking lots. What happened to
that notion?

What happened to the staffing situation where employees were paid from the
Marina fund but used for other Berkeley locations.

To echo Zack; thanks Paul for the time and effort you've devoted and thank
you Zack for your participation.

Dave Hamilton
S/V Sea Grace
A 12 Paradise Marina
Nuevo Vallarta, NAY
Mexico

-----Original Message-----
From: bboa-members-bounces at berkeleyboa.org
[mailto:bboa-members-bounces at berkeleyboa.org] On Behalf Of Zach Nobel
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 10:03 AM
To: Paul Kamen
Cc: BBOA
Subject: Re: [Bboa-members] Waterfront committee Meeting, tonight!
Discussing%5 fee hike

Paul,

Thank you for your detailed response. I'm sad no one made it to inquire. I
personally like the idea of a hotel near his Lordships. Seems like a win-win
for everyone.

Question since you may know, is the Marina bound to maintain the channel
entry for Hornblower?  What would the ferry schedule be like? How would
regular large boat traffic affect the experience for slower moving sailboats
in the marina?

Thanks again Paul for taking a very active interest in the Marina & helping
communicate these issues with a broader public.

Unfortunately I have prior commitments tonight otherwise I'd do my best to
attend the ferry meeting.

Regards,

Zach

On Wed, 14 Mar 2007, Paul Kamen wrote:

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

-- 
_________________________________________________________________________
Zachariah Nobel			email: Zach at Nobel.org
Grand Poohbah of the Nobel.org domain
_________________________________________________________________________
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