North East Township supervisors want marina business plan, borough votes to form authority

NORTH EAST TWP. — Township supervisors on Monday morning authorized their solicitor to begin drafting a resolution on the future of the North East Marina.

But that resolution — like the action taken by the three-member panel Monday morning — will stop short of forming an authority that would take ownership of the marina from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, which plans to close the marina's private docks this summer amid rising costs for annual maintenance, specifically dredging and sand movement. Supervisors want to develop a business plan first.

"We want to make sure the authority has every possible chance to succeed," Supervisor Russ LaFuria said.

But hours later, Borough Council took the step that supervisors were unwilling to, agreeing to form an authority via a resolution that will be reviewed at its March meeting.

"I've looked at everything the community members (who have been spearheading the authority proposal) have put together and it all does seem viable," Borough Council member Heather Jones said after the supervisors' morning meeting, adding that she believed an authority could be formed now and handle the work of developing a business plan. "But I do understand everyone's need to know the numbers."

Officials have been in talks for months now about forming an authority to take over the North East Marina in the hopes of not only bringing it back to its former level of use, but also allowing the 17-acre property to reach its potential. An authority, proponents have argued, would shield taxpayers from any financial liability, including taxes.

Dozens of local anglers and boaters spoke in favor of forming the authority at a joint public hearing on Jan. 24. State Rep. Jake Banta and community member Dan Adamus asked for the township and borough to act at their Feb. 5 regular meetings. Adamus is a member of the Fuller Hose Co. and sits on the board of the North East Community Foundation.

The authority would include appointees from the township, where the marina is located, the borough, which shares in the economic benefits of the facility, and Fuller Hose Co., which uses the marina as a launch-point for its water rescue operations. Neither the township nor the borough acted at their Feb. 5 meetings, holding off until after a Feb. 13 meeting at Banta's office that included state Sen. Dan Laughlin and officials from Fish & Boat Commission.

Township Solicitor Tim Wachter cited the annual maintenance costs and other capital improvements that are needed at the marina that the authority would inherit upon taking possession of the Lake Erie facility from the state as reasons for needing more financial clarity.

The Fish & Boat Commission, Wachter said, would deduct the cost of some of the needed work at the marina from the value of the asset in order to transfer it to the proposed authority at no cost. Otherwise, the commission would be bound by strict laws for disposing of state-owned property.

"There's no such thing as a free marina," Wachter said.

Several of the 20 residents who attended Monday's township meeting urged supervisors to form the authority and said that it, not the township or the borough, should be the one to undertake the proposed business plan.

What they said

"We're just dragging our feet, meeting after meeting," said North East resident Jamie Lamb, who has lived along the lakefront to the east of the marina most of her life. "I don't think we're getting anywhere."

Another resident, Aaron Jelley, told supervisors they were leaving the impression that they were trying to find reasons not to move forward with the marina authority.

"You're doing all this decision-making without them," Jelley said.

Supervisor Frederick Shunk said some people in the community have acted as though the marina authority already exists, going as far as setting up a Facebook page for it. Supervisors, both Shunk and LaFuria insisted, hope for the same outcome.

"But going into this blind would be a mistake," Shunk said.

'A prudent step to take'

It is not exactly clear what the borough believes it can achieve through its own marina authority without the township's immediate involvement in its formation. On Tuesday, Shunk, the chairman of Board of Supervisors, issued a statement in response to Borough Council's vote.

Shunk cited the recent meeting with Banta, Laughlin, the Fish and Boat Commission and North East Borough, calling it "productive."

"At that meeting it was decided that the best way to move forward was to obtain a feasibility study and business plan to help us understand what we are facing by creating an authority that would operate a marina," Shunk said in his statement.

The township, he said, operates on a $2 million annual budget, which is the same amount the Fish & Boat Commission spends annually on moving sand from west to east (to prevent erosion) and dredging the dock area to achieve necessary water levels of boat activity.

Having a business plan first, he said, "is a prudent step to take" to ensure that an authority, once it is formed, as "the best possible chance of being successful.

"We understand that the Borough wants to form an authority to do this due diligence for it, and the supervisors have decided that they want to do the due diligence before the authority is formed," he wrote.

The township, Shunk said, has not been dragging its feet, as some have alleged. Instead, it has been "moving swiftly" to identify funding sources to pay for a feasibility study and business plan. Supervisors have also discussed with Laughlin's office the need to address engineering issues before the marina would be transferred from the state to a local authority.

"Senator Laughlin is committed to exploring this, and is working to secure a meeting with the appropriate federal and state officials so that we can learn what options exist," said Shunk, adding that the township will continue to support "any effort that will benefit the township and the borough."

What's next

Wachter will seek guidance from the Fish & Boat Commission on language for a resolution, which would formalize the township's interest in the marina. The resolution is key to receiving funding from the Fish & Boat Commission through its Boat Access Planning Grant program for the proposed business plan. The application period for the program is currently closed and the agency would need to reopen it.

Because it is a matching grant program, the township and borough would have to find the other half of the cost for a business plan. The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority is a potential source for that match, but it would also need to reopen its application window, said Wachter, who also serves as the solicitor for ECGRA. Because of Wachter's conflict, he's asked North East Borough Manager Pat Gehrlein to begin talks with ECGRA.

Wachter is also exploring possible ways to convert as much as $12.5 million in capital improvement allocations for the marina by the Fish & Boat Commission into money that could be used by a local authority. He said one potential method might be the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com or on X at @ETNRink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Proposed North East Marina authority on hold, township wants plan first