Panama City approves partnership to restore St. Andrews Marina after months of discussions

PANAMA CITY − After months of discussions, local officials have finally approved a public-private partnership to restore the St. Andrews Marina.

In a meeting on Tuesday, Panama City commissioners approved the partnership agreement with St. Andrews Marina Partners LLC to restore and oversee the marina, which was heavily damaged in October 2018 by Category 5 Hurricane Michael.

"After many months of negotiations, going back and forth on multiple issues, whether it be with upland improvements, whether it be on terms and agreement, whether it be on percentage of revenue ... we have an approved agreement between the public and private partner," Commissioner Josh Street said.

Street said one of the biggest accomplishments of the agreement is that public will retain "unlimited access" to the marina, despite it now being managed by a private group.

"The only reason why this marina exists is because the collective public initially built the marina back in the '60s," he said. "Although it hasn't been maintained in the best way, and it's got a lot of damage from Hurricane Michael, it's still a public access.

"People still go (there) to enjoy watching a sunset, teaching their kids how to fish ... and that's something that's really important for us to protect."

There are about $24 million in needed repairs to the marina. This includes about $12.9 million to replace outdated bulkheads, with the rest slated for additional improvements, including those to boat docks and boat slips.

According to Street, the city and St. Andrews Marina Partners agreed to split the construction estimates. He also said the agreement sets an approximately 30-year lease with the partners to manage the marina.

According to information from the city, the lease is set up in a way that it began from the time it was approved by the commission, but it will reset once the needed construction for the marina is complete. This was done to give the partner time to recoup the money it will pay for the improvements.

Looking back: Panama City Commission works out more details on partnership to restore St. Andrews Marina

For Street, it's a relief and accomplishment for Panama City to have finally reached an official agreement. He is confident it will be the catalyst needed to get the neglected amenity back on its feet.

"I think the commission (has) looked at this about eight or nine times (with) multiple workshops, multiple rounds of community input (and) multiple rounds of revisions to the contract," Street said. "At the end of the day, what we have is an agreement between a public and private partner that protects public access to our waterfront (and) ensures that generations are going to be able to enjoy the amenity they've enjoyed for so many years.

"But also, we've got private money coming to the table to help us rebuild these slips, get this marina back in operation and hopefully grow in the future."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City finally reaches agreement to restore St. Andrews Marina