BELMAR — Following the adjusted rates of select boat slips at the Belmar Manutti Marina, the Harbor Commission is working to implement routine dredging at the marina to address existing problems regarding “undesirable” boat slips that it has had difficulty renting out due to their poor conditions, according to Councilman Mark Levis.
The councilman said that the relationship of problematic slips that have been clogged by rocks and sand and the lack of maintenance dredging was brought to the table during the commission’s Jan. 17 meeting. During the meeting, he said, the commission acknowledged that dredging “has not happened for a very long time” and that in its absence, the marina “will just continue to have undesirable slips.”
For boaters, docking in these slips have become a challenge because of the rock or sand that have built up over the years, blocking the flow of water and, thus, making it difficult for boats to dock in them. “I get phone calls from marina people who run slips that they don’t have water under their boat,” said Mr. Levis.
The councilman explained that discounting the rates on these slips was not the productive, long-term solution that the commission is seeking because some of the slips are not functional and have become idle and, therefore, have not been pulling in any revenue for the town.
“We’re losing revenue because of that. So, we’re not fixing those slips. You’re talking about half rate. There are 13 slips there, and if you can effectively double the revenue you can get from there, that’s a significant amount of money. The idea of dredging is you don’t want to be adding to those discounted slips, you want to be shortening it. Ideally, we should have no discounted slips like that.”
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