It’s been two years since the city of Mentor received a study of potential options for its marina, yet the facility sits as it always has as another boating season approaches.
The 20-year debt to purchase the 450-acre Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve & Marina was retired last year, leaving officials with less reason to rush a decision and more time to consider the possibilities suggested in the report — ranging from do nothing to residential development.
While they may be on the back burner, the prospects for the property aren’t forgotten.
Here’s a look at the city administration’s latest thoughts on the lakefront attraction.
Operating advantage
The debt retirement is the biggest change at the marina since the study results were revealed. This has allowed the city more financial freedom than in years past.
“I think last year was the first year we actually made money out there,” City Manager Ken Filipiak said.
The facility’s annual operating budget is $650,000. During the last 15 years, the marina was run at a $100,000 loss per year on average with debt service. Operating surplus now is estimated at around $400,000, not counting ongoing capital improvement projects.
So the problem of aging infrastructure is solved, right? Only if the city is able to be in the marina-improvement business for the long haul, officials say.
“We’ve looked at repurposing the facility, the value of the facility, how it might be used, its current value if it were to be disposed of, the cost of maintaining it in the future,” Filipiak said. “The reality is this: You have a facility from an operational standpoint that, if you never invested anything in it, would be making money this year, but it doesn’t generate enough to refurbish it entirely in a short period of time. We have the benefit of time here.”
The five-year capital plan calls for spending about $450,000 a year toward improving the facility. Council made a decision this past fall to start investing in the worst of the 90-year-old dock walls.
This year, $100,000 may be spent toward a harbor channel project feasibility study as well as upgrading some of the 3 miles of seawalls.
The city administration expects that it can improve on the $20 million cost estimate provided by a 2014 study to replace the walls.
“We think we can do it for a little less than that, but we’re not talking about huge decreases — 25 to 30 percent through a combination of creative contracting and some internal work by our crews,” Filipiak said.
Another potential cost-saving approach is trying to reduce the number of lineal feet by redesigning some of the inlet basins built for boathouses back in the 1920s.
“The city’s not interested in borrowing money and bonding out money to upgrade that (facility),” he said. “We are interested in seeing how far we can get in just operating year to year and investing any profit generated into improvements for now. You’re probably still looking at a 30- to 40-year commitment, and a lot of things can happen in that time.”
Status quo way to go?
There are a number of variables beyond the city’s control, such as the ability to retain the marina customer base and the rate of shoreline erosion.
The picture of the marina today from a use standpoint is a robust one. Docks are at full capacity with all 544 slips spoken for and 141 boaters on a waiting list.
However, rising Lake Erie levels continue to wreak havoc on lakefront properties in the area.
Shoreline erosion protection at a minimum runs about $1,000 a foot, officials say. A project two years ago cost the city $600,000, and officials anticipate needing to add another 200 to 300 feet to extend the revetment wall along the Lagoons.
“Some dock wall replacement could get bumped based on our revetment out there, depending how the lake behaves,” Filipiak said.
The channel feasibility study is estimated to cost $700,000 and is anticipated to take two to three years. The next step is a cost-sharing agreement among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the local project sponsors — the city, Mentor Harbor Yachting Club and the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority. If the study supports the project’s feasibility, federal funding would be sought for construction.
The channel project was among priorities identified in a 2014 study by Abonmarche of Benton Harbor, Michigan, in conjunction with CT Consultants. The firms were paid $12,960 to assess the facility’s condition, the regional market, the marina’s place within the market, and to provide cost estimates for needed maintenance and upgrades.
There are equipment needs as well, such as a $500,000 new boat lift that the city has been contemplating purchasing.
“Nothing about operating that marina is cheap,” Filipiak said. “It has reached it’s useful life. We are doing our best to extend that life and protect our investment. We don’t want to see this facility be a burden on the taxpayers.”
While the marina still serves a relatively small number of Mentor residents — less than half the boaters — city officials intend to continue with the status quo this season.
“As of right now, we believe that we can continue to keep the marina open and improve it at a break-even point, and provide some incremental improvements,” he said. “So what does that do for us? We can’t anticipate the rate of deterioration out there. … If we have the benefit of seeing some of the existing better dock walls lasting another 30 years, we may (eventually) have a fully refurbished marina.”
Strictly business
In March 2016, the city received results of a marina market analysis from The Danter Company of Columbus and CT Consultants. The property was valued at up to $12 million if it were to be repurposed into a mixed residential use.
While no action has resulted from the findings, the studies during the past few years represent good planning by Council, Filipiak said.
In view of the relatively few Mentor users, the administration is treating the marina as a business enterprise.
“As long as it remains profitable, right now the city is interested in investing in the facility,” he said. “We spent the last 20 years paying off and purchasing it; we want to protect it.”
“It’s overall been a good investment,” he added. “Public facilities like that become a bad investment when you continue to operate them at a loss going forward. We are not at that point.”
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