Elmwood Township board held their monthly meeting on Monday night where there were a lot of talks about the marina.
Harbormaster Daniel Jenuwine had four proposals for the board to vote on such as purchasing two Automated External Defibrillator (AED) packs, insect control, off-season rental of Boaters Day Room, and storage at the Brewery Creek property.
The marina’s current AED is no longer functional and a new one is needed. Along with that Jenuwine recommends having another AED on the premises for extra safety precautions.
“I propose both units be mounted on the wall inside the doors of the Marina Office and the Boaters Building,” said Jenuwine.
The board approved the purchase of two AED packs at a cost not to exceed $4,600 in total which is only in the scenario no grant money is available.
The board also approved of Jenuwine’s decision to move forward with awarding a contract to Chemical Control to handle insects. Chemical Control won with a bid of $4523.75 and two treatments a year, which is $900 less than the next lowest bid for the same amount of treatments.
Jenuwine also suggested that the marina gets licensed in the future to handle the pest situation themselves.
When it came to the proposal of off-season rental of Boaters Day Room, Jenuwine projected the space could generate at least $10,000 per year depending on rental rates and interest. Clerk Connie Preston had some objections to the usage of the room.
“I don’t know if it will offset the cost of keeping the building heated and the parking lot plowed,” said Preston.
With what Preston brought up, it was decided for the board to hold off on voting for a month giving Jenuwine time to work on the proposal.
The proposal for the Brewery Creek Property would give the marina access to renting out more slots from June 1 until October 31. The cost of renting one of the 40 slots for the duration of that period would be $1,000. If all of the slots are not sold for the season, then rates go to $300 for a month or $100 for a week. Once that rental season is over, it is proposed to be a winter storage that could generate as much as $60,000. With the winter storage money, security cameras and motion activated lighting would be purchased and installed.
Similar to the day room, the board held off from voting on the proposal because it violated a township ordinance.
“I encourage the board to follow its zoning ordinance to the greatest extent possible because we should be leading by example,” said Sarah Clarren, Elmwood zoning administrator. “I do suggest we at least amend our parks ordinance which applies to all land and facilities that the township owns, which states boat trailers are only allowed to be parked at the marina.”
Clarren and Jenuwine will bring this proposal back up to the board at the next meeting as well.
