Boats for the middle class.....
wrote in message
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As I said, I'm paying around $100 a foot. The Marina next to mine gets
about $140 a foot. I'm not really in a "cheap" area, I'm just at an
old fashioned mom & pop marina, where most of the tenants have been
here for a long time, and it's sort of like a big extended family. You
need an introduction to get a slip here. It's a special situation.
When "mom & pop" finally retire and sell the place, I'm sure the next
owners will do things much differently. The only bright spot is that
due to the physical location and lack of city sewers, the land is not
a candidate for condos or even multiple houses. It pretty much has to
remain a marina.
Do they have pumpout and/or hauling facilities with power washing service?
If so, they would be well advised to keep a low profile. The EPA is
enforcing some pretty strong requirements on marinas up here and it appears
that if an owner files for a permit for expansion or improvements, they show
up on the radar screen and will be visited.
They guy that owns the marina I am in filed for permits for a major
renovation of the facilities including a 1 million dollar sewerage treatment
plant that some local home owners would also be able to tie into. His
application was initially refused thanks to conservation lobbiests, but I've
heard that some town fathers are now in support of the plans because it will
also benefit local home owners.
Meanwhile, the EPA showed up and decided to require the marina owner to dig
trenches (in existing dirt/sand), install drainage pipes, refill with new
gravel/fill/sand and then plant shrubs in the drainage areas. What's screwy
is that the water will still eventually drain to the same places that it did
naturally before the changes, after seeping (and filtering) through the
original dirt and sand. I was told this little requirement has a price tag
of $100k.
To his credit, the marina owner is proactive about these things and also
installed a pit, sump pump and huge filtration system to process the water
used for powerwashing the boat hulls.
As the EPA makes their rounds, I think some of the older marinas will have
to close due to the costs associated with meeting EPA requirements.
Eisboch
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