Marina Committee

1 MARINA COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 2 Wednesday, October 16th, 2024 3 (Approved Version) 4 5 Agenda Item No. 1. The October 16th, 2024 meeting of the Marina Committee was called to 6 order by Chairperson Alison Werner at 4:00 P.M. 7 8 Present: Louise Howson, Alison Werner, Patrice Champeau, Pat Duffy, and Kevin Grant 9 10 Staff: Marina Manager Dave Lienau, Assistant Manager Sam Jordan, Village Administrator 11 Julie Schmelzer 12 13 Others: Jill Lhost, John Blossom, Thor Johnson, Terry Wolf, Kurt Harff, Nicholas Dokolas, 14 Laurel Harff, Mike Kahr, Lars Johnson, Marley Inksetter 15 16 Agenda Item No. 2. Approval of the Agenda 17 18 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Grant that the Agenda for the October 16th, 2024 meeting of 19 the Marina Committee be approved as presented. Motion carried – All ayes. 20 21 Agenda Item No. 3. Approval of the Minutes 22 23 A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Howson that the minutes of the August 7th, 2024 meeting of 24 the Marina Committee be amended and approved by the committee. Motion carried – All ayes. 25 26 Agenda Item No. 4. Comments, correspondence, and concerns from the public 27 28 No correspondence was received for this meeting. Werner asked if anyone would like to make a 29 public comment, and no one responded. 30 31 Agenda Item No. 5. Discussion/Action Items: 32 33 a) Seasonal Slip Holder Leases – Rules and Conditions 34 35 Lienau summarized the typical annual approval process for the Rules and Conditions in which 36 the only contents that change are the dates. 37 38 A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Werner to approve the “Seasonal Slip Holder Leases – Rules 39 and Conditions” as written. Motion carried – All ayes. 40 41 b) Seasonal Slip Holder Leases – Transferability 42 43 Lienau summarized that occasionally there are situations in which seasonal slip holders attempt 44 to pass down seasonal slips leased from the marina in a trust. Lienau noted that he confirmed 45 with the village’s attorney, Randy Nesbitt, that this is not permitted per the slip holder 46 agreements and that he plans to meet with Randy soon to make any additional changes that can 47 help clarify these details for slip holders. Lienau explained that seasonal slips are non- 48 transferable because the marina would likely rarely or never see slips turnover, as individuals  Minutes of the October 16, 2024 Meeting of the Marina Committee - approved 1 would perpetually pass on slips to family members. Werner cited additional clauses from the 2 “Seasonal Slip Holder Leases – Rules and Conditions” emphasizing the non-transferable nature 3 of seasonal slips, as Lienau had previously stated. Kahr added that the DNR would not permit 4 this either and that there is legal precedence. 5 6 c) 2025 Open & Close Dates 7 8 Lienau noted that the 2025 Open and Close dates for the marina will be May 14th and October 9 13th, which sums up to 153 days open for the season. For comparison, Lienau added that the 10 dates for 2024 were May 15th and October 13th, and that the marina typically averages anywhere 11 from 151 to 155 days open. Lienau addressed questions marina staff have received about why 12 the marina closed prior to Fall Fest in 2024, to which he clarified that the marina closed on the 13 same weekend as it has in 22 past consecutive years with only one exception. The date usually 14 set for closure is Sunday closest to October 15th. Lienau explained that in 2024, Fall Fest 15 happened one weekend later this year due to a later than usual Columbus Day weekend. 16 Lienau provided context for the 2022 boating season, when the marina experimented with the 17 earlier opening and later closing dates of May 1st and October 31st. Lienau noted that no 18 transient reservations were made in the months of May or October that year and that across the 19 previous 3 years, only 1 transient reservation has happened in either of those months. 20 21 Werner voiced support for Lienau’s proposed dates given the unfavorable weather conditions 22 in the months of May and October. Grant provided an alternative viewpoint that regardless of 23 transient slip usage, seasonal slip holders would like to have access to the marina as early as 24 May 1st to prepare their boats for the season. Grant noted that he has been approached by 25 various individuals stating that they would like both earlier opening dates and later closing 26 dates, but that he also understands how these dates are impactful to the logistics of marina 27 winterization and de-winterization. Grant stated that he would prefer the marina to offer the 28 option for individuals to put and keep their boats in the slips earlier and later, but the amenities 29 provided by the marina facilities and staff don’t need to be offered outside the typical opening 30 and closing dates. Lienau emphasized that the marina is rarely fully de-winterized and ready to 31 open by May 1st. Lienau compromised in that he is open to offering the extended dates as an 32 exception but advised against having it written in the slip-holder contracts. Grant said that he 33 was in favor of extending dates with exception. Howson also noted that she heard similar 34 complaints from slip holders, and that she is in favor of allowing boats to leave later and arrive 35 earlier if prior arrangements are made, and that permission is provided by the marina manager. 36 Lienau noted that there is concern over liability if boats are present in the marina while the 37 marina is closed. 38 39 A motion was made by Werner, seconded by Howson to approve the 2025 Open and Close Dates to be 40 May 14th and October 13th. Motion carried – All ayes 41 42 d) 2025 Fee Schedule 43 44 Lienau noted that no fee changes will be happening from 2024 to 2025. The only changes to the 45 fee schedule will be the dates. Grant suggested that the marina should consider raising transient 46 fee rates based upon the high demand for transient slips in Sister Bay and what other Marinas 47 are doing in the area and on Lake Michigan. Lienau confirmed that we have raised rates  Minutes of the October 16, 2024 Meeting of the Marina Committee - approved 1 consistently in previous years and that the marina staff monitors what other transient rates are 2 throughout the area. Lienau also noted the marina is almost $100,000 beyond the projected 3 earnings for transient and seasonal revenue in 2024. Werner reminded the committee that this 4 was discussed thoroughly in last year’s meetings and that she is in favor of approving them as 5 presented. Lienau followed up that there are scheduled increases in transient and seasonal rates 6 across the next five years but not in 2025 specifically. Grant is concerned that the 10% increase 7 every two years does not keep up with inflation, to which Lienau replied that he can look at 8 previous years and clarify if this is the case or not. 9 10 A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Champeau to approve the 2025 Fee Schedule as presented. 11 Motion Carried - All ayes. 12 13 e) Marina Winterization 14 15 Lienau provided an update of the marina’s closing and winterization process as shown in the 16 packet. Lienau noted that the marina is on schedule for the winterization and closing process. 17 18 f) Non-Property Owner Seasonal Waitlist Update – Refunding Applicants 19 20 Lienau highlighted that there is about 100 individuals on the Non-Property Owner Seasonal 21 Waitlist, but this waitlist is now being dissolved. Marina staff are in the process of contacting 22 waitlist members to retrieve updated mailing addresses to return the $200 waitlist application 23 deposits. The village clerk has issued about 40 checks in the current payroll period, and the rest 24 are expected to be sent in the next two weeks. 25 26 g) Marina Manager Certification 27 28 Lienau noted that he has been approved as a Certified Marina Manager by the Association of 29 Marina Industries. Lienau followed up that the Assistant Manager, Sam Jordan, is on track in 30 the next few years to achieve this certification as well. Grant praised Lienau’s achievement and 31 installment of a succession plan that elevates marina leadership. 32 33 h) Review of Financials 34 35 Lienau addressed the budget, specifically noting that the total revenue breakdown on page 19 36 shows a year-to-date actual figure of about $915,000. Lienau followed up that the 2024 budget 37 projected the marina to earn about $866,000 but by the end of 2024, this amount will be around 38 $950,000 to $960,000 in total revenue. Lienau attributed this additional revenue to increased 39 transient reservations primarily due to consistent and favorable weather throughout the season. 40 41 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Grant to approve the monthly Marina Financial Update as 42 presented. Motion carried - All ayes. 43 44 i) Boathouse Project – Shadow Group Update 45 46 John Blossom provided updates regarding the renovation of the boathouse for the shadow 47 group project. Blossom noted that the group has about $200,000 in addition to the value of the 48 Shadow vessel. Of that $200,000 total, over $80,000 is usable cash and the rest is from pledges  Minutes of the October 16, 2024 Meeting of the Marina Committee - approved 1 and assets. Blossom is hoping the village is ready to move forward with an agreement so that 2 the project can continue. Blossom noted that he is in the process of developing the “Sister Bay 3 Marina Club” to help grow interest in the boathouse museum project as well as generate 4 revenue from the community to finance the project. 5 6 j) Sister Bay Boat Rental’s Annual Contract Costs 7 8 Lienau summarized the chronology of determining Sister Bay Boat Rental’s 2024 slip costs, and 9 highlighted that Thor Johnson, the owner of Sister Bay Boat Rental, as well as marina 10 management, felt that the initial 2024 pricing was abnormally high. Lienau explained that when 11 the contract was re-negotiated in Fall of 2023, past pricing was not taken into consideration 12 when setting the new commercial slip rates. Lienau attributed the abnormally large increase in 13 pricing in 2024 to the lack of continuity of the agreed pricing from previous years into 2024. 14 Lienau explained that past years’ pricing took into consideration the limited space and 15 challenging layout of the slips used by Sister Bay Boat Rental. Lienau offered ways of merging 16 the pricing strategies of previous years with the current contract’s pricing to reach a more 17 equitable option. Grant voiced favor for Lienau’s recommendations, to which Howson agreed. 18 Lienau added that although the 2024 bill had not been finalized, Johnson paid in full the 19 amount owed from the previous year (2023) as an act of good faith. Duffy shared additional 20 assent for Lienau’s recommended changes. Schmelzer sought clarification as to what 21 implications this change would have on the written contract and village ordinance. The 22 committee showed consensus that the suggested plan would not change the rates agreed to in 23 the contract, but it would change how the final price is calculated using the agreed upon rates. 24 25 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Grant to amend and approve the contract’s pricing for 2024 26 and the following years until its termination. Motion carried – all ayes 27 28 Agenda Item No. 6. Matters to be placed on a future agenda or referred to a committee, 29 official, or employee 30 31 The next meeting of the Marina Committee is scheduled for November 13th, 2024 at 4:00 P.M. at the 32 Sister Bay Fire Station with a virtual Zoom option. 33 34 Adjournment: A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Howson to adjourn the October 16th, 2024 35 meeting of the Marina Committee at 5:20 P.M. Motion carried – All ayes. 36 37 Respectfully submitted, 38 39 Samuel Jordan 40 Assistant Marina Manager