West Marina Operator Contract Goes Out For Bid
As was expected, during their regularly scheduled September 28th meeting the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved the drafting of a Request-For-Proposal (RFP) to solicit public bids for operation of the West Basin Marina. We have not yet had any substantive discussion with the Dana Point Harbor staff concerning this and are looking forward to discussion on this topic during the upcoming General Membership meeting on October 19th. For meeting details click here.
Coastal Commission Hearing This Wednesday
The Dana Point Harbor LCPA is again up for hearing this coming Wednesday, October 13, 2010 in Oceanside. Meeting details are available on the Dana Point Boaters website. Click here.
Last October (yes, it's been one year) when we spoke before the Commission on the status of the Harbor Revitalization Plan we asked for commissioner support on two major boating issues. The first issue was to minimize slip loss. Commissioners heard boaters and specified a goal of zero slip loss while still accomplishing some slip resizing to accommodate more slips in the critical 30 to 45' range.
The second issue was the loss of mast up land side boat storage resources. This was caused by the proposed incursion by the planned two level parking deck into the launch ramp area. This was also caused by the proposed 65' high, 400 boat capacity barn, which severely reduced boater access to their boats, provided no storage for their trailers and needlessly driving up the cost of boating via overly expensive construction. This second issue was also addressed by LCPA language added at Commissioner Sara Wan's request to assure protection of land side boating resources. During the past year and alternative design for the parking deck and for a boat storage deck has squeezed out 8 million dollars in estimated construction costs while providing the same number of boat storage spaces on trailers as exists today.
We urge our fellow boaters to attend the CCC Hearing, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 and provide support for the goals of zero slip loss and zero mast up dry storage loss.
Possessory Interest Tax
The appeal process for the 2009 PIT tax year has officially ended according to our tax consultant, DePasquale, Kelly and Co. Boaters who participated will be receiving official notices for the County of Orange in the next several days.
For more information please plan to attend our upcoming Members Only Meeting upcoming on October 19th. For meeting details click here.
More on PIT
During a Boater Blast in August we ranted about the double PIT tax Dana Point boaters have been paying every year since the switch over of marina operations from master lease agreements to operating agreements between the County and the three harbor marina operators. But in two respects we erred. One, we failed to mention that through the efforts of the tax experts engaged via DPBA, those boaters who participated in the 2007 tax year appeal actually received a 60% reduction in their tax bills. (These happy boaters knew and we knew but it should have been mentioned.) The other error was more serious. While we were correct in stating that Mr. Chriss Street, Orange County Tax Collector sends out ~3,000 tax bills to Dana Point boaters every year, when in the past, this was accomplished via a journal entry to transfer funds from one County fund account to another. We were unfair in stating that Mr. Chriss Street had any control in the decision to do this, the official responsibility for this grossly unfair maneuver lies with the Orange County Tax Assessor, Webster Guillory.
Ocean Cleanup Day
Those Dana Point boaters, and especially the 35-40 volunteer divers, who participated in Ocean Cleanup Day in Dana Point Harbor on September 25th had a great time and collected an amazing amount of underwater debris. I mean really amazing in size, bulk, quantity and diversity! The award for the most noteworthy discovery (found in the vicinity of M Dock Cove) was awarded for a double sized parking meter. One of the many runners up was for an 24'' wide 5' long clay pipe. We'll have pictures on the DPBA website soon but please start making plans now to participate in this event next May. We really felt good about what was accomplished and besides we all had a whole lot of fun too!
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DPBA Member Dues Waived for 2010
We announced some very good news for boaters in our February Boater Blast. We're waiving dues for 2010, for three very good reasons. This is a great opportunity for boaters and there are absolutely no strings attached!
To learn more click here.
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The Dana Point Boaters Association advocates the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating. We work to improve the family friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented actives we all enjoy in the harbor. We serve as the watchdog by ethically protecting the rights of all boaters and representing them when collective action is most effective. We actively gather information and communicate our views to educate boaters, external interests, and public officials. We build and maintain constructive, working relationships to achieve common goals with other harbor stakeholders. We will pass on our harbor to the next generation of recreational boaters in better condition than it is today. |
