City Gives State Officials A Tour Of The Marina

State officials got a first-hand look at the Martinez Marina last Thursday, as city leaders continued to make their case for two loans of more than $5 million to repair a sea wall and dredge the harbor.

But if the city was hoping that the tour would help expedite the process of securing the money, they were disappointed.

State Senator Mark DeSaulnier arranged for the tour and a meeting afterward in which the city laid out its case to representatives of the Department of Boating and Waterways, Lands Commission, and the Department of Finance. Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla was also at the meeting.

Recreation Manager Mitch Austin explained that the city needs the $3.1 million already approved but not dispersed by the state, as well as assurances of an additional $2.5 million, to begin repairs on the eastern seawall, and to dredge the harbor. Presently, the seawall is full of holes and the silt level is so high that the entire eastern portion of the marina is unusable.

Councilman Mark Ross, who with Mayor Rob Schroder makes up the Marina Subcommittee, pleaded the city’s case as Austin showed financial projections over the next few years. 

“We’re expecting a $500,000 donation from Shell,” Ross said. “We’re putting all our money from Measure WW into the Marina. We’re going all out. Our financial projections are conservative. These are not pie-in-the-sky projections. And we’re also repaying our original loan.”

The city was hoping to get approval for the $2.5 million from the state this year, but Sylvia Hunter of Boating and Waterways said that decision will take “at least a year, probably more than that.” She said the decision to release the $3.1 million could go before the commission this October for a vote, but there are no guarantees.

Austin said it is important to get the money as soon as possible, so the city can begin dredging the harbor next June.

“In three or four years, it won’t be a marina,” said Tom Hogan of Almar, the company that operates the marina for the city. “It will be a mud puddle.”

“I want to stress that we want a decision” City Manager Phil Vince told Boating and Waterway’s Hunter. “We just can’t keep doing this. We can’t be kept in the weeds.”

“I get it,” Hunter said. “But there are some assumptions the city has made that we don’t accept. So we need to work that out.”

“There’s been a level of frustration with Boating and Waterways,” Vince said after the meeting. “The council’s been at this for 15 years. We could be doing this for 10 more years.”