Posted on April 5, 2018
By William Kelly, The Shiny Sheet
A draft of the new master plan for renovating the Town Docks will be presented to the Recreation Advisory Commission.
The report includes three options: minor expansion of the existing layout, adding a dock north of the Brazilian Dock, and multiple larger slips. The marina renovation would include dredging the mooring basin, building a new bulkhead, renovating the three buildings, and adding 19 parking spaces without a loss of green space, the town’s engineering consultant wrote in the plan.
Depending on the alternative, the cost would range from $26.3 million to $31.8 million and generate annual revenue between $13.5 million and $16.4 million, the engineering company, Baird, said.
For the year that ended Sept. 30, the 83-slip marina grossed just under $3.7 million, according to Recreation Director Beth Zickar.
The three docks are at the west end of Peruvian, Australian and Brazilian avenues. They were last renovated in the 1990s, and the Town Council has been talking about an upgrade for several years, Zickar said Monday. In January 2017, the council hired Baird to produce a master plan for $110,000.
Baird solicited opinions from town officials, property owners, dock patrons, town staff and residents. The consensus is that the docks need upgrading but a mixture of vessels should be maintained and the general feel of the marina should not change, Baird said in the report. A preference also was expressed for floating docks.
The town is charging below-market rates but, with updated facilities, could charge on par with other marinas in the region, Baird said. “The Town Docks’ competitive advantage is its location with the implicit elegance and security of being located inside Palm Beach,” Baird wrote in the report.
Baird will solicit a response to the draft from the recreation commission on Wednesday and from the council in April before producing a final report, Zickar said. That report will be before the commission and council in May.
“The Town Council will make the ultimate decision on what direction we take,” Zickar said.
Once a plan is approved, the next step will be to secure environmental permitting, a design and engineering work, she said. The town is applying to the Florida Inland Navigation District for a grant to share the cost of that.
Construction might begin as early as 2020, Baird said.
“It’s hard to pinpoint an exact date [when renovation] is going to start, but we’re going to move as quickly as we possibly can,” Zickar said.
Source: The Shiny Sheet
