Harbor Advisory discusses financial issues
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
The Rogers City Harbor Advisory committee met Tuesday morning and centered much of their discussion on the marina?s financial issues.
Due to a decrease in boater traffic, the marina has been in a downward spiral for several years. Several factors have contributed including high gas prices, a bad economy and a decrease in fishing in the area. Also contributing are some bonding issues that the marina is working diligently to repay so they can work their way to being financially stable.
The marina has borrowed money from the city?s general fund as well as having some contributions from the Community Development Authority.
Harbormaster Brian Wagner has been working on the financial issues with city staff to find ways to cut expenses and increase revenues for the marina which is supposed to be a self-sustaining business. One of the things Wagner is looking at is lowering costs by cutting down on payr
This would cut costs but may cause more problems when the marina is understaffed for regular maintenance as well as docking and fueling boats.
The committee discussed several options that the marina could also consider including getting volunteers to help with mowing grass and other maintenance issues as sort of a friends of the harbor group or help from existing groups such as the Whacky Weeders group that maintains the parks.
Wagner is looking at possibly cutting back to just one assistant harbormaster instead of the two he has had in previous years.
No decisions were made but the committee will continue discussing the financial issues as Wagner looks at making any changes he can. The majority of the committee agreed that the problem is not on the expense side of the budget but rather on the revenue side.