Rebuilding aging City Docks
Everyone that lives in Naples that is a boater or lives in the area of the city docks know that they have need replacing for years. The Naples City Council has voted to pay for a search for an engineering firm that will design and permit a rebuild of the city dock, which means that the aging facility could be replaced within a few years. The dock, the third-most used of all the city’s facilities, hasn’t been rebuilt since 1983 and requires more than $60,000 in annual repairs to its old beams and cracking planks. According to the dockmaster, a new facility will allow an increase in slip rates, which are below the rates of comparable municipal docks, and add revenue from utility fees. Different phases will include hiring consultants, permitting, actual construction, the council’s approval on the dock’s design and how the city will be able to pay for all of it. The design of the new dock would include taking a hard look at the structure’s fuel dock which may result in the building of a floating concrete dock to replace the old wooden one. If the dock rebuild goes through the dockmaster would apply for grants from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The rebuild is estimated to cost roughly $4.9 million and the dock has about $800,000 in reserves. Nearly a quarter of the dock’s revenue comes from rent and close to three quarters comes from fuel sales.
Source: 2015 Journal Media Group
