Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
June 8, 2018 12:00 a.m.

City Manager Dale Martin

At Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting, a few speakers voiced concerns about the City Marina. The primary focus of the concerns was the lack of knowledge regarding the status of the repairs and encouraging the City to provide more information about the repair effort.

I reviewed the work of the two primary media efforts in our community- the News Leader and the Fernandina Observer. The News-Leader, since January, 2018, had fifteen articles that discussed the Marina: four in January, two in February, four in March, two in April, and three in May (and, in all likelihood, another one in today’s publication).  Over that same course of time, the Fernandina Observer had nine articles related to the Marina: one in January, on in February, one in March, three in April, and three in May (and again, another article expected as part of the summary of Tuesday evening’s meeting).

Additionally, the Marina efforts have been discussed at nearly every City Commission meeting since January. The process and schedule for repairs was discussed extensively at two goal-setting workshops and at a joint meeting with the Ocean Highway Port Authority. City Commissioners have spoken about the Marina conditions at additional meetings of civic groups.

Since all of those efforts have been insufficient, I will summarize the ongoing City efforts related to Marina repairs.

Hurricane Matthew (Oct, 2016) destroyed the Marina’s attenuator. The attenuator is the floating dock which functions to reduce the impact of waves on the interior docking facilities of the Marina. The attenuator served that function well during Hurricane Matthew, but the waves generated during that storm were so intense that the integrity of the series of floating concrete sections that comprise the attenuator was lost. As a result, all uses of the attenuator had to be abandoned.

As part of post-hurricane damage assessment, City staff prepared and submitted reports to state and federal agencies and officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials conducted dozens of inspections and prepared even more reports related to the condition of the Marina. The formal FEMA report documenting the damage and necessary repairs to the Marina was signed and returned to the City in October, 2017 (total estimated cost: $6.5 million).

If procedures and policies are appropriately followed, the federal government, through FEMA, will reimburse the City 75% of the repair cost. Additionally, the State of Florida will further reimburse the City for half of the remaining balance (12.5%). Those percentages are not capped, but will be applied to the final repair cost, meaning that the Marina will be repaired for a mere fraction of the actual cost of repairs.

Immediately after the City entered the FEMA queue, the City applied for the permit for the Marina repairs through the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This process was expected to be relatively routine since the USACE had previously permitted the Marina facilities. Now, however, USACE guidance was that the facilities were too close to the federal shipping channel (seventy feet instead of one hundred feet) and that the permit would not be authorized. The USACE, at the same time, indicated that it considered the “minor repairs” to the northern attenuator (which houses the fueling and pumpout operations) as not minor and that an additional permit would be required for those repairs.

Previous efforts to shift the channel westward were unsuccessfully re-visited as a possible solution. Through the efforts of City officials and consultants, and with strong support from Congressional officials, the City subsequently submitted an application for a Section 408 review- a request for a variance to allow for the reconstruction of the attenuator to its former condition in its existing location. Public comments were sought (promoted by some of the aforementioned articles) to support the City’s application (to date, the USACE has not shared the public comments received so the City has not been informed of the extent of such public support for the Marina). Through a variety of sources, the City has been informed that the necessary permit will be provided by the time the City is scheduled to award the contract for the southern attenuator repairs (July 17).

This repair effort has been the most frustrating processes of my entire career. This frustration is further evidenced by the State’s reconfiguration of its emergency management oversight following the problems associated with Hurricane Matthew (and it is through the State that the City must deal with FEMA). In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, no one could have predicted the issues with the State, FEMA, and the USACE related to the “simple” repair of the Marina to its previous condition in the same location.

The media (and the City) has provided ample and accurate coverage of the City’s efforts, frustration, and schedule for the Marina. The writers for the News Leader, the Fernandina Observer, and the Nassau County Florida Independent have discussed the efforts and process with me in detail and I appreciate their efforts to keep the public informed, not only for the Marina issues, but everything else related to City government.

To view previous  “Weekly comments from Dale Martin” that addressed the marina, click on the links below.

https://fernandinaobserver.com/uncategorized/weekly-comments-from-dale-martin-77/

https://fernandinaobserver.com/city-news/weekly-comments-from-dale-martin-84/

https://fernandinaobserver.com/uncategorized/weekly-comments-from-dale-martin-86/

https://fernandinaobserver.com/uncategorized/weekly-comments-from-dale-martin-87/

https://fernandinaobserver.com/uncategorized/weekly-comments-from-dale-martin-88/