Dear fellow boaters,  

 

On Tuesday, May 1st, the County of Orange Board of Supervisors will hear their staff's recommendation for the future management of our Dana West Marina.  As you surely have heard by now, the staff report ranks Dana Point Marina Company (which presently manages the east marina) first, followed by first alternate Almar Marinas, and second alternate TBW Co. (which presently manages the west marina).   OC Dana Point Harbor will request the Supervisors' approval to begin contract negotiations with Dana Point Marina Company for management of the west marina.

 

Like many of you, we are grateful for the heritage and contribution of TBW Co. to our beloved Dana Point Harbor; so much of what our wonderful harbor is today is to the credit of TBW.  However, awarding the west marina management contract to DPMC will bring management of both marinas under a single firm for the first time in our Harbor's history.

 

Your Dana Point Boaters Association directors and advisors support the consolidation of harbor management under one management company.

 

After careful and deliberate consideration of this very important decision, including review of the County's request for proposals (RFPs) and corresponding documents, your DPBA leadership believes the greater Dana Point boating community (east and west marinas) will be best served under unified management.  DPMC is under contract to manage the east marina until 2021; the only way to achieve unified management this decade is to support the selection of DPMC to manage the west basin.

 

OC Dana Point Harbor has determined that consolidated marina management under DPMC will achieve cost savings (revenue enhancement) through improved efficiencies and the elimination of redundancies in management and operations.  As you may know, harbor revenues are required to stay in our harbor; improved financial performance will benefit our boating community.   Under one management company, boaters should see improved maintenance and shortened repair completion times, improved clarity and transparency in the management of slip waitlists and subleases, uniform policies governing the entire marina, improved communications to all boaters regarding events and activities in our marina.  DPBA hopes and expects that DPMC will retain TBW's skilled front-line maintenance team that knows our west marina so well, thereby combining to create an experienced and skilled maintenance crew for the entire marina. Further, DPBA will be requesting participation in the development of performance standards for inclusion in the new west marina contract, and we will expect that whatever gains we make in performance expectations will be applied to management of the east marina as well.

 

In addition to supporting consolidated marina management, your DPBA leadership is also opposing the selection of second alternate Almar Marinas, which has no existing stake in our marinas, and according to the boaters we've spoken to, a markedly boater unfriendly reputation.  Whoever manages our harbor into the future, we recognize that Dana Point boaters desire the familiarity, trust and relationships that have been fostered between boaters and their existing management companies.

 

Thank you for your continued support of your Dana Point Boaters Association.