Pat, you'll get a kick out of this story on RB marina

[Bruce]

City to boaters: Shape up or ship out
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By WILLIAM COOPER JR.

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, July 21, 2007

RIVIERA BEACH — Andrew Foss feels as if the city is trying to take his piece of paradise.

It's a place where suntans abound and the locals have nicknames like Puerto Rican Don. And after a hard day's work, friends share beers and barbecue.

But that way of life at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina is in jeopardy. Foss and 317 of his fellow boaters have received letters threatening eviction.

Unless they can prove their boats are properly insured and registered with the state by Aug. 31, Foss and his band of boaters must leave the marina. That's also when the city wants to make all marina tenants sign a new, more stringent lease.

They also face the loss of the barter system, under which some marina residents can reduce their monthly lease payments by providing security, janitorial services or repairs, or boat salvage. City officials are not certain the work is actually being done.

The changes are a blow to a typically laid-back lifestyle. Residents say many of their boats are too old to be insured. And without the barter system, some cannot afford to stay at the marina.

"We live here, and we have a vested interest in what goes on here," said Foss, whose lease is about $850 a month but who pays about $450 under the barter system. "We agree with what the city's trying to do by upgrading the marina. We just don't want it done at our expense."

Don "Puerto Rican Don" Serrano, who has lived at the marina off and on since the 1990s, said people have the wrong impression of marina residents, and that could be what's behind the new rules.

"We're not a bunch of bums sitting on our boats drinking beer all day," Serrano said. "We're working stiffs, blue-collar people."

They live among a mix of commercial boats that take tourists fishing and diving and ferry them to nearby Peanut Island. The Tiki Waterfront Sea Grill, a popular Key West-style restaurant, serves as the marina hub.

David Bachiochi, a construction superintendent, cherishes the ability to work on land and live on the water. While he can afford insurance, he fears that some neighbors may have no place to go.

"We all help each other around here," said Bachiochi, a regular at the Tiki. "We don't lock up our boats. That's the way we live around here."

The city is making changes after conceding that the marina and its rules have long been neglected.

Assistant City Manager Gloria Shuttlesworth said the goal is to clean up the marina, make it more profitable and reduce the city's liability for derelict boats left there.

But Foss and his friends argue that the changes are especially unfair because they come in the middle of hurricane season when it's difficult to find space at another marina. In South Florida, few public marinas allow boat owners to live aboard their vessels year-round.

Beyond that, they believe the changes are just a tactic to rid the marina of smaller, less expensive boats to make way for Viking Inlet Harbor Properties, the city's master developer, to manage the marina more profitably.

Viking, a New Jersey-based yacht maker whose local offices overlook the marina, is not shy about wanting to take control.

"Absolutely," said Mike Clark, president of Viking Associates, the yacht maker's real estate company. "We would like to take it over and make it into a first-class marina with all the bells and whistles."

Last year, Viking took steps in that direction when it hired George Carter, the city's former marina director. Carter, who worked for Riviera Beach for 42 years, was brought in to operate Viking's charter school, the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy, which teaches high school students about the marine industry.

Critics suggest that Carter was hired to manage the marina once Viking strikes a deal with the city.

"Viking is pushing the city's buttons, and the city's pushing our buttons," Serrano said.

City Manager Bill Wilkins said there is no secret plan to oust the marina residents to make way for Viking and its yachts. But the city cannot afford to wait any longer to upgrade.

"We are going forward with our improvements because our marina needs to be improved," Wilkins said. "We're not slumlords. We want a first-class marina."

Using a $5 million grant, the city plans to add 50 boat slips, bringing capacity to 200 boats. The extra slips will produce an additional $350,000 annually in marina revenues, city officials say.

Interim marina director Doug Mason is spearheading the effort. Mason, a Boston native who managed marinas there, was hired in December.

Mason said he immediately saw the potential in the city's marina, which generates about $2.3 million annually. However, he learned early that he inherited a lax management system, in which some boat owners failed to pay their monthly leases and lacked insurance.

Serious problems surfaced March 15 when two boats caught fire, causing damage to two others. None of the vessels had insurance, and the damage cost the city about $15,000, Mason said.

In June, two more boats without insurance sank. Riviera Beach paid another $10,000 for boat salvage and cleanup, according to city records.

That prompted Mason and City Attorney Pamala H. Ryan to revise the city's marina lease agreements and enforce the existing provision that requires proof of insurance.

"These derelict boats are like ticking time bombs," Mason said. "They create a serious hazard."

Mason is also caught up in controversy over the barter system.

Carter started the system in the 1990s, after the city could not afford to pay private security to monitor the marina. When Mason arrived, nearly 20 people were working on the barter system.

Not satisfied that work was being done, he began to phase out certain barter jobs. The decision made Mason the focus of attacks and claims that he was targeting black workers.

Those claims led to an investigation by the city's interim attorney, Glen Torciva.

Lara Donlon, an attorney in Torciva's office, interviewed marina staff and determined that Mason had not made racial slurs. But the probe issued a list of recommendations adopted by Wilkins that include abolishing the barter system and providing training for marina employees, including Mason, on harassment and discrimination.

Shuttlesworth, who is Mason's boss, said the city supports him. She acknowledges that some of the changes he instituted produced a backlash.

"There is always resistance to change when you're making people more accountable," Shuttlesworth said.

One of Mason's most vocal critics was marina resident Fane Lozman, an activist who also was critical of Carter. Lozman said Mason does not meet the criteria to serve as interim marina director.

He also blasted city officials at a recent council meeting for advertising the marina director's job in December but failing to interview any of the applicants. Instead, the administration kept Mason on board.

Lozman, who beat the city in court when officials attempted to evict him from the marina last year, has vowed to fight to keep the marina public, possibly through a referendum.

"Just like we're not giving away our public beach, we're not going to give away our public marina," said Lozman, referring to a group of residents who stopped a $280 million deal to lease the city's beach to builder Dan Catalfumo.

Councilwoman Lynne Hubbard has offered to hold a meeting at the marina to allow boaters to vent about the insurance issue. She also is willing to invite insurance officials to discuss what options are available to boaters.

"I want to help them find out enough information to make an intelligent decision," Hubbard said.

Foss and his friends are still leery of the city's actions. They want to enjoy their lifestyle, while receiving the benefits of the much-needed improvements that the city plans to make to the marina.

Foss, who works on the barter system providing security and bartending at the Tiki, said time will reveal the city's true motives.

"This place has a heartbeat of its own," he said. "This is our slice of heaven, and they're trying to take it away."
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The little guy is gone around here. Its big boy boating or nothing.

[Kevin]

Despite being an underpaid blue collar worker myself and hating to see boating as a hobby for the elite, I can tell you "City Marina" and "derelict vessel" seem to go hand and hand. City marinas down here are affordable and by virtue attract the wanna be Jimmy Buffet crowd. They use it as a medium to transit from the hook to dingy dock. With that comes lack of responsibility, wellfare, sunk boats, occasional drownings due to overdose, waterbourne domestic calls, drugs, total disregard for nav rules, boating safety laws and you can't swim in the water for about two miles around Boot key harbor because of the amount of crap in the water. When I say crap I mean it in a literal sense. Some friends that have lived here all their lives tell me you could see the bottom of the harbor many years ago. Not the case anymore. I thought I could make a difference for good hearted people but no matter what I did it was like urinating into a 50 knot wind. If there were 50 of me maybe I could begin to get a handle on the fecal problem. Sometimes you just can't win and have to accept it.

[Dave Kosh R.I.P.]

Yep Kevin I'm with you on that one. City of Ft. Myers Beach decided that they were going to do something about derelict boats in the back bay (Matanzas Pass) . Well they installed mooring buoys and charge them a good clip. No more derelict boats there, however they simply moved around the corner . Yes they are right in my path, shrimp boats and you name it. I make sure I go at posted speed of 25 MPH through them. They are still however there. Sheriff's department states that it is very difficult to get them out of there if someone is living in them. If no one is living in them it is a lot easier to get rid of them at taxpayers expense mostly. I know what I would like to do but I can not say it. Hope they get them out of there Kevin. Dave K

[STeveZ]

Proper insurance, elimination of the barter system, fees closer to market rate and capital improvements all sound pretty reasonable to me. This sounds like a situation where extremes are meeting. The current slip holders sound more like residents than boaters. Essentially enjoying the benefit of a government subsidized waterfront commune. In the other corner is the out-of-state business entity looking rebuild an exclusive high dollar facility from the ground up for profit. Neither seems to serve the best interest of the typical Riviera Beach boater.


Reminds me of the city marina in nearby Havre deGrace, MD. Its in a nice spot with a park next door. The fees are notoriously low and there's a couple year waiting list. I walked the docks there this spring and was blown away by some of the POS's afloat there. Ancient wood cruisers literally rotting and falling apart. The one with the big piece of carpet stapled over the gunwale stands out in my memory. There were plenty of nice boats too. Like a lot of Marinas in the N end of the bay, the parking lot was full of out-of-state cars (PA, DE, NJ).