NORTHEAST – The City Council will appoint five people to serve on the newly formed Community Marine Authority when it meets in regular session Monday night.
The next day, you will file the articles of incorporation with the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office.
And then the work begins.
What community members have been requesting for more than six months – the formation of an authority – will allow the new entity to begin negotiating with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for the transfer of ownership of North East Marina, 11950 East Lake Rd.
On April 1, City Council passed a resolution to form the authority and seek candidates to serve on the inaugural board. The deadline for applications was April 30. At its April 15 meeting, the City Council approved the articles of incorporation of the Northeast Community Marine Authority.
Nine people applied to join the authority, according to city council member Heather Jones.
The authority was initially supposed to be a joint venture between the township and the township, but Northeast Township supervisors announced in February that they would proceed with an economic impact study to learn more about the potential costs of operating the marina and how generate enough energy. income from regional assets. The City Council, however, chose to continue in the hopes of retaining as many boaters as possible.
Last week, a North East Community Marina Facebook page notified boaters in a post that they are under no obligation to remove their boats from marina property, but it’s unclear whether the new authority will be able to keep more than 200 open. private ports. boat slips that the Fish and Boat Commission closed during the current boating season.
Jones said that although the township will form the authority, township supervisors are still encouraged to play a role in it when they determine they are ready.
“Ultimately, we know we are better off together,” Jones said of the township and township having a joint role in forming the authority.
Start of efforts to save the marine
State Rep. Jake Banta, R-4th District, and resident Dan Adamus, a trustee of the North East Community Foundation and a member of Fuller Hose Co., began their efforts to save the marina in 2023 after the Commission Fishing and Boating announced it would close private boat moorings for the 2024 boating season.
The Fish and Boat Commission opted to close the private docks due to new dredging requirements that increased the cost of annual maintenance as well as the cost of moving sand from the west side of the marina basin to the east side to prevent erosion on the coast. . Those costs have made operating the marina, the only one under the authority of the Fish and Boat Commission in the entire state, financially restrictive for the state agency. Another issue was the discovery of unsafe power lines at the docks and the potential cost associated with a utility review.
Banta and Adamus proposed the idea of the Northeast Township Council and Board of Supervisors forming one authority to own and operate the marina, in order to eliminate any financial liability that township and township taxpayers might face if the municipality or the municipality took charge of the marina. marina themselves.
The Fish and Boat Commission has been willing to work with the community to transfer ownership and potentially provide initial funding for the authority.
The Northeast Borough Council will meet Monday at 6 pm at Borough Hall, 31 West Main St.
You can contact Matthew Rink at mrink@timesnews.com or at X at @ETNrink.
This article originally appeared in the Erie Times-News: Northeast Marina Oversight Board Members to be Appointed Next Week