Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard said after some months of negotiation, an agreement has been reached with the North Ferry Company over the lease of the west pier.
And it’s a win-win for all, he said, at last night’s lengthy village board meeting.
An agreement discussed last year with the North Ferry never came to fruition, Hubbard said. “It was not good for either side.”
The new license agreement states that the village would be paid $7,000 for the first year — in two equal installments of $3,500 — and $8,500 in subsequent years to lease the dock to the North Ferry. But, he added, the village will also be able to use 73 feet of dock space, up to the tenth piling, beginning from the east end of the pier.
“It’s really good news,” said Bridg Hunt, general manager of the North Ferry, adding that increasing safety was the motivating factor for the agreement.
Village Trustee Doug Roberts said he believed the deal was a “fair compromise. The section of dock we’re leasing to the ferry company is the hardest section for us to rent to visiting yachts. I’d like to see us get more for the space, though this compromised number is close to the revenue we could expect from that particular space, and we have the opportunity to use the eastern portion of the pier to increase revenue if we are aggressive in our marketing strategy to the mega-yacht community.”
Back in January, one month after former Greenport Mayor David Nyce refused to speak about a possible lease agreement involving Greenport Village and the North Ferry, Hubbard shed light on the matter.
In December tempers flared at the Third Street Firehouse as a resident asked Nyce to discuss ongoing negotiations between the North Ferry Company and the Village of Greenport over a proposed agreement that would allow the company to rent the west pier at Mitchell Marina. Hubbard said that there was only room on the west dock for one boat.
The North Ferry “offered a price, we countered, and neither was happy with the price,” Hubbard said at the time. “Right now, there is nothing in writing, no agreement.”
The last time Greenport officials had met with the North Ferry was in August, Hubbard added.
The reason why the North Ferry was interested in the pier was due to the “hazards of navigation”; he said, adding that if the matter should come up again, he would inform the public.
In December, resident John Saladino asked Nyce why he could not discuss the matter at a public meeting. Saladino maintained that the village could collect $18,000 more that the initially proposed $8000 to $8500 they would receive from the North Ferry in a proposed long-term lease agreement, by renting the pier to the sea of boats that currently have to be turned away from the dock.
The pier, he said, could generate at least $26,000 as a flood of large boats seek to dock at the west pier, Saladino said after the meeting, adding that the village has made a “significant investment” in electric at the marina last year.
“This is literally something that could put this marina on the map,” Saladino said at January meeting. “We shouldn’t limit our options by taking away rental space. I honestly believe this is something residents should know about. It’s a village asset that produces income for the village, and $18,000 is a lot of money.”
This week, Hubbard said while the amount of the agreement was less than what was discussed last year, the village would still be able to utilize some of the dock space so it was a positive outcome for all.
