Despite vocal opposition, town votes to sell Ranta Marina

Council votes to accept offer from Rob Delicata in trust

Posted By Ron Giofu/The Amherstburg Echo

Posted 3 months ago

Protesters started gathering in front of the Amherstburg Municipal Building several hours before the start of last Tuesday's town council meeting. However, town council still voted 5-2 to proceed with the sale of the marina.(Photo: Ron Giofu/The Amherstburg Echo)

AMHERSTBURG —Town council stuck to their guns and voted to proceed with the sale of Ranta Marina, a move which angered the overflow crowds at town hall during the Oct. 13 meeting.

Crowds packed into the council chambers and overflowed into the lobby and many carried the placards they used during a picket they held prior to the meeting in front of town hall along Sandwich St. S. However, that didn’t sway town council with a recorded vote being 5-2 in favour of accepting an offer to purchase the lands by an area developer.

Mayor Wayne Hurst, Deputy Mayor Robert Bailey and councillors Rosa White, John Sutton and Paul Renaud voted in favour. Councillor Rick Fryer and Councillor Bob Pillon were opposed.

Town council also voted by that same 5-2 vote to extend the Ranta Marina Boaters’ Association’s (RMBA) lease for the 2010 boating season with that lease becoming void should the sale become final.

RMBA president Ron Sutherland said their group was “vehemently opposed” to the sale of the 104 boat slip and day launch facility, noting it was created through joint efforts of the federal government, the provincial government, the now-former Township of Anderdon and Walter Ranta.

“The marina was funded by the government for the residents of the tri-community of Amherstburg, Anderdon and Malden,” said Sutherland.

Sutherland told council that a petition that was circulated over six-days featured over 700 signatures.

“That certainly proves that it’s more than 70 boaters that want to keep the property,” he said.

A meeting was held between the RMBA and the developers and Sutherland believed “there is a strong opportunity for a mutually beneficial relationship moving forward.”

Lisa Scott, an employee at Ranta Marina since 1994, said she sat before council “in total disbelief that you are selling the marina.” She said that she has been there in good times and bad and has watched the RMBA “turn the marina around” to where it is now back to being almost three-quarters full. She noted 2010 will be the marina’s 25th anniversary but it will be “a sad year for the taxpayers of Amherstburg.”

Scott said other towns are reclaiming their waterfronts and questioned whether the town was failing the Ranta family by proceeding with the sale of the marina.

“Please re-consider selling,” she urged council.

Reg Major, another RMBA member, also protested the sale with the belief that council is showing “an extreme breach of trust” to the Ranta family. He questioned how future citizens can donate land and money and be confident that land won’t be sold off down the road.

Major believed the sale of the marina would have been a “done deal” at a special meeting of council the morning of Oct. 1 had Ranta representation not shown up.

“Do not rezone the marina or any part of the parkland. Do not sell the marina,” said Major. “It’s ours. Not yours.”

The opposition from the public in attendance was echoed by the two councillors not in favour of the marina being sold.

Pillon pointed out the town tries to sell itself as a tourist town yet a public marina where boaters could come to is being sold off. He noted that the boat launch is busy in the summer and also helps to draw people into Amherstburg.

“Every weekend, it’s full of boats and trailers,” said Pillon.

Pillon said not only residents are needed, but non-residents as well. He said the town would be in “sad trouble” if people didn’t come in from outside the municipality to use ice at the arena.

“We need people to come to town,” said Pillon, adding it would be “a crying shame” to sell the marina and its boat launch.

There was also conditions that town council wanted to see in the sale, Pillon added, and “we haven’t seen that.”

Fryer said that the marina carries a deficit, not a debt, and “there is a big difference between the two.” He said there is no line item in the budget for the marina adding the town does subsidize parks and the arena. He said the deficit can come off the books but they can do so year-by-year. The profits generated by the RMBA can be put into a fund that could pay for such things as future dredging, he suggested.

“We probably have the biggest coastline in Essex County and you are going to tell the residents they can’t have access to it? That’s wrong,” said Fryer, to thunderous applause.

Fryer praised the public for attending, saying they need “people like you saying this marina works.”

Fryer also wanted to see the all the conditions placed on the land but CAO Pam Malott responded by saying that the final version includes access to the parkland and that council has seen all of the conditions.

“I don’t recall seeing that at all,” said Fryer, which prompted an accusation from Hurst that Fryer has “selective amnesia.”

“There is no pressure to sell this right now,” added Fryer. “No reason. There’ s nothing behind it unless there’s something here I don’t see.”

Deputy Mayor Robert Bailey noted that the history of the property goes back to 1984 and that any conditions or restrictions on the land were cleared up in recent years which allowed for the sale of the land. Bailey, who became agitated after frequent interruptions as he read his statement, noted that the deficit went from $46,700 at the time of amalgamation in 1998 to the projected deficit by Dec. 31, 2009 of $985,000. Bailey said it would become a burden to the taxpayers to place this on the municipal levy. To recover it over one year would result in an eight to nine percent increase in taxes, Bailey added, something which would be “not acceptable.”

Bailey said the RMBA has done an admirable job running the marina in its three years but costs to the town continue to increase.

“From my perspective, I do not see the marina as a core service to the town due to the limited number of Amherstburg residents using it,” said Bailey.

He added that administration should explore all options to find a boat launch location elsewhere, prompting cries of “where?” from the crowd.

“What is a core service?” responded Pillon.

Pillon noted that the splash pad and arena have a lot of out-of-town users. He added that the question of how many use the boat launch was not asked.

“There’s more people using it than you think,” said Pillon. “I’d call it a core service. I think we’re losing something valuable to the town and I don’t want to lose it.”

Sutton said they were having that discussion due to the inactiveness of previous councils on the matter and added he was “deeply grateful” to the RMBA for the job they’ve done. However, he said the marina continues to accumulate a deficit and lose money. Sutton said that even if all 104 slips were rented, they still wouldn’t break even or recover capital costs.

“If Ranta Marina was in private hands with a nearly $1 million in debt, there is no doubt it would be forced to close,” said Sutton. “In this situation, it behooves us to look for ways to eliminate this tax burden.”

Sutton suggested there is a possibility the town could still own the marina in one year as the deal isn’t officially finalized. Sutton said that he understands the passion and concern RMBA members and some in the town have, but this was a tough decision that had to be made.

A report from Malott on that night’s agenda indicate the developers, who hope to build a condominium/”dockaminium” project at the marina, have to bear the costs of necessary studies on the lands. It was re-iterated at an Oct. 3 boaters meeting that brine wells lie underground in the vicinity.

Councillor Rosa White agreed that the RMBA did a “fantastic job” of running the facility but suggested the town should not be in that business.

“The Town of Amherstburg is not in business to provide a Yogi Bear park for residents,” White told the incredulous audience. “There is three sides to the truth. Your side, my side and the truth. I say the truth as much as I can with the information provided to me.”

Hurst noted that the sale pertains only to the marina property, and not the adjoining park. The marina sits on just over 13 acres and the town states they received an offer for the appraised price of $584,000.

The recent news poll on the Echo’s website which asked if people would be happy if the marina was sold, 86 percent of the 94 votes said no. Eleven percent said yes and three percent said they didn’t care either way.