HOPEWELL – As the saying goes, between maintenance, storage, upgrades and other fees, owning a boat is often referred to as owning a “money pit”. The town of Hopewell might feel that way about its marina, which has absorbed millions of dollars in costs over the past few decades without returning much to the town. These costs will need to be factored in as the city moves forward with its plan to redevelop part of its waterfront along the James River.

Hopewell’s possible visions for the waterfront could involve rebuilding the dilapidated docks – which city staff say is incredibly expensive – selling the marina to a private operator or completely demolishing the docks and transforming from the shore into a community space.

The new community space plan provides for a range of new publicly accessible amenities. A boardwalk and event space are linked to the Riverwalk under development. Boating would still be active with transitional courtesy docks and a boat launch. A park is also added to the design with a playground, a fishing promenade and a monument to the city.

All of those options are still on the table after Tuesday night’s meeting. The city council has not yet indicated a solution even if some seemed in favor of a decision which could see a hybrid solution where the marina is only partially demolished, and married with the project of a community space.

Hopewell Town Council has been pushed back by current runners on the docks who say full demolition is not a favorable solution. About 60 people showed up for a public briefing the night before the city council considered its marina options. Many of them were boat owners who use the marina. They voiced support for the hybrid idea that wouldn’t tear down the docks entirely.

“When I look here, I see a ship as the logo of Hopewell. We’re talking about getting rid of this ship,” said Carl Bottom, a Hopewell resident of five years and a runner at the marina. “…the majority of people who attended [the info session] I think there is a way to compromise and have a win-win situation for all Hopewell residents.

Slip owners were also worried about how quickly the city council was rushed to vote. The ideas would be born and could be voted on Tuesday within 45 days.

What is the state of the Marina?

The marina is made up of three separate docks – L Dock, M Dock and N Dock – all in various stages of deterioration. Two of these docks are covered with a roof and one is open to the elements.

The Dock has the most advanced deterioration of the three and is recommended to be demolished immediately. A presentation of the town showed that its roof structure is riddled with holes and the supporting piles are not much better.

“We have main support beams that have rotted and are broken. We fixed them, only to find that the same thing is happening throughout the entire structure,” said Aaron Reidmiller, director of recreation and parks.

The piles that come into contact with the surface of the river have dramatically different thicknesses as the water level rises from high tide to low tide.

M Dock is said to be in a similar condition to L Dock, but not as bad. N Dock is in good condition and could stand for a considerable time without demolition or repair.

“We look forward to acting on the two slips which are in the worst condition. The longer we wait for L and M, the greater the responsibility,” Reidmiller said.

Why did the city push for a demolition vote so quickly?

As part of the waterfront reinvention, Hopewell Parks and Recreation offered the opportunity to apply for a significant grant through the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund. The matching grant would make $2.8 million available for the renovations, about half of which would be funded by the city. American Rescue Plan Act funds have been mentioned as a source of funding to provide monetary matching for federal funds.

“We could match this very large grant opportunity with this unique funding that we currently have. All of these departures kind of lined up. That’s why we moved forward very aggressively,” Reidmiller told the board.

The deadline for this grant is March 15, which is after the next Hopewell Town Council meeting. The opportunity to call a vote left a loathing in the mouths of marina runners and at least one councilman.

“This timeline, being thrust upon us so quickly, isn’t something that most of us enjoy,” Ward 1 council member Debbie Randolph said. “…it’s just a little too much. quick.”

The request itself is also based on the total demolition of the marina so that the waterfront becomes a public space rather than a private facility.

City Council decided not to apply for this grant opportunity at Tuesday night’s meeting – Randolph, Janice Denton, Johnny Partin and Arlene Holloway voted no. The grant can still be applied for, but in next year’s cycle, which means the first work would start in 2024.

Why is the marina a money pit and what are the renovation costs

Since Hopewell took over the marina from the Hopewell Yacht Club in the early 2000s, virtually no revenue has returned to the town while it has been paying significant maintenance costs.

The city paid nearly $1.8 million to renovate the facility in 2013. According to City Manager John Altman, the renovations were originally slated for funding of up to $5 million, but ended up running out of budget. much lower when the project was born. These significant upgrades did not focus on improving the integrity of the docks, but primarily on the surroundings and supporting structures.

Dredging the river bottom is also a constant cost that needs to be considered. The boat launch currently in place is unusable at low tide because sediment has accumulated near the banks. Hopewell paid $411,000 to dredge the area in 2012.

Of the revenue generated by the marina, relatively little returned to the city. The cost of renting slips at the docks is around $90,000 per year. The private company that manages the docks then pays a lease of $25,000 per year to the city.

This intensely unbalanced relationship has bothered city councillors.

“We’re going to spend a lot of money replacing something so someone else makes almost $100,000 in profit a year? Does that make sense?” asked Ward 4 Councilor Jasmine Gore.

When discussing the options, Ward 6 Councilor Brenda Pelham said she was not in favor of keeping the marina and continuing to operate it if it “would make someone else a millionaire and not me”.

The cost to maintain the marina by completely renovating the docks has been estimated at $8 million. Slip runners dispute that the estimate might be the lowest possible number. Parks and Recreation argues that it could continue to shop around for prices, but that probably wouldn’t bring the price down low enough for the city to fund.

The complete demolition of the docks is estimated at approximately $350,000. The cost of demolishing just part of the docks, compared to the entire marina, was unknown at Tuesday’s meeting. Reidmiller said the process could be more expensive if it wasn’t all done at once, because construction equipment travel costs would have to be paid for more than once.

Reidmiller told the council there were three private marinas in the area with around 80 empty spaces for rent.

What is council’s position on the demolition of a community space?

Councilors voted before the end of the meeting to go ahead with the demolition of the L Dock – the most dilapidated – and return at the next meeting with quotes for the demolition or repair of the remaining docks.

The council is still divided on whether or not to eliminate the marina entirely.

Partin said if the city continues to maintain the marina, it should change its mindset to be more professional towards amenities. He is in favor of examining the possibility of keeping part of the boat rentals.

“It’s not the fault of the boat owners that the money that has been paid for rent over the past 20 years has not returned to the marina,” he said. “It’s just a lack of poor leadership and bad administration over the two decades. They shouldn’t be the ones suffering.

Partin added that if the city can’t agree on a community space, he would favor selling the property to a private owner. The sale of this property would require a supermajority vote of the city council.

Gore was strongly opposed to the sale of riverfront property to a private owner and the obstruction of public access to the James River.

“Communities across the country are trying to create what we already have. Wasting it is just backwards,” Gore said.

Randolph echoed Partin, saying the city should definitely treat the marina like a business if it wants to continue operating it.

“I didn’t understand that we were making $25,000 out of it, it’s stupid, it’s that we even allowed that to happen,” she said.

Tuesday night’s votes leave open the option of demolishing only some of the docks. The city council has requested additional estimates to determine the costs of completely demolishing or repairing the docks. For its next meeting.

You can reach Sean Jones at [email protected] Follow him on @SeanJones_PI. Follow The Progress-Index on Twitter at @ProgressIndex.