Coyote Point Marina is a self-funded enterprise fund receiving most of its revenue from berth rental fees. Each berth renter at the Marina has a signed Berth Rental Agreement, which may be canceled by either party upon written 30-day notice. However, there is no actual provision in the Agreement for a temporary suspension of fees and temporary vacation of a rented berth.
During the last dredging episode in the Marina in 1994, the Parks and Recreation Commission approved a temporary suspension of some Berth Rental Fees to facilitate that dredging project.
The dredging project at the Coyote Point Marina was originally scheduled to take place in the last quarter of 2002. However, the construction bids came in significantly over budget and the project was put on hold. The project went out for bid again earlier this year and the bids came in within the allocated budget. A contract for dredging was awarded to Dutra Construction. The project began in September 2003.
The project will remove approximately 100,000 cubic yards of material from the Marina over a two to three month period. The budget for the dredging project is $1,200,000 with approximately $200,000 in additional consultant, design, permitting, and administrative costs. The original areas for dredging per the contract with Dutra Construction focus on the front entry area of the Marina.
A public meeting was held with Marina berthers on July 22, 2003 to discuss Marina issues. The main concern raised by the attendees was the depth in parts of the Marina, mostly the front dock areas (Docks 27, 28, and 29). They believed the depths at these docks, and possibly some other berths in the Marina, are inadequate. The attendees stated that many of their boats were sitting on the bottom at low tide, that they could not get their boats in and out except at higher tides, and that there may have been damage to their boats from bottoming out on the sediment. The berthers asked Division staff to explore the possibility of temporarily suspending berth rental fees so they may leave the Marina and berth their boats elsewhere until the current dredging project is complete. The berthers also asked that the Division explore the option of increasing the scope of contract work to include dredging the actual berths within the permitted area of the Marina.
On August 3, 2003, after consultation with County Management and County Counsel, Director Burns notified berth renters within Coyote Point Marina that she would temporarily suspend Berth Rental Fees for berthers whose berth depth was found by the Harbormaster to be inadequate and no suitable alternative could be found to berth the boat in Coyote Point Marina.
The Division agreed with the berthers' assessment of the need for dredging of Docks 27, 28 and 28 and recommended a contract amendment, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors on October 7, 2003. The amendment added the areas in Docks 27, 28 and 29 to the contract for dredging. |
Of the 50 attendees at the Division's public meeting with the Marina berthers, all appeared to feel that many boats needed to vacate the berths in the front docks (Docks 27, 28, and 29) due to inadequate depth. The berthers in this area have asked to have their rental fees temporarily suspended so they can afford to move their boats to another location and not have their Berth Rental Contract canceled. Staff agreed to immediately work with the berthers to make a concerted effort to move as many impacted boats as possible to other places in the Marina and consider their fee suspension proposal.
Staff understands the concerns of the berthers and concurs with their suggestion that berther rental fees be temporarily suspended for some berthers at the Harbormaster's discretion so they can temporarily leave the Marina until this dredging project is completed. After consultation with County Management and County Counsel, Director Burns made the administrative decision to allow some Berth Rental Fees to be suspended. The actual determination for such a suspension is being made by the Harbormaster after an examination of the situation. All such temporary suspensions are made in writing to document the terms and conditions of such a suspension of fees.
On August 7, 2003, the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Commission discussed this issue at its regular meeting and voted to ask your Board to approve this item citing necessity and past practices. |
Meeting with the public and responding in a reasonable and collaborative manner to service delivery problems serves the commitment of responsive, effective and collaborative government, and goal number 20: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary gain or immediate gain. |
A total of 15 berthers have received a temporary suspension of Berth Rental Fees and left the Marina for a period of approximately three months. While the number of berths is not large compared to the overall Marina capacity of 565 berths, these are some of the largest and most expensive berths.
It is anticipated that up to $9,000.00 in revenue could be lost for this limited number of Berth Rental Fee suspensions. However, in making budget projections for this fiscal year, allowances were made for the negative impact of the dredging project on Marina revenue. This potential loss of $9,000.00 is within the budget projections for FY 2003/04 revenue. |
