Panama City works to resolve issues in partnership to restore St. Andrews Marina

PANAMA CITY — For Commissioner Josh Street, the St. Andrews Marina is an important public amenity that should be restored.

In a special meeting on Tuesday, he and other members of the Panama City Commission worked to finalize the details of a public-private partnership between the city and St. Andrews Marina Partners LLC to restore and oversee the marina, which was heavily damaged in October 2018 by Category 5 Hurricane Michael.

According to Street, there still are a few hurdles that must be overcome before an official agreement can be reached.

"Last night was an opportunity for the commission as a whole (to) talk through the issues and really try to see (if) there is a way for us to make this agreement work," he said Wednesday. "The whole reason we started on the venture was because the city couldn't financially do it by itself."

One such issue is the length of the agreement. Street noted the city favors a 30-year agreement, while St. Andrews Marina Partners favors a 60-year agreement.

"I think there are some things that the city is not willing to compromise on," he said. "One of those is the length of term of agreement. Another is we're not going to sacrifice public access."

An additional issue is that apart from damages caused by the 2018 hurricane, all of the marina's bulkheads are outdated and need to be replaced — an approximately $12.9 million project.

Street said officials still are working to decide the best way to fund such a feat while using a public-private partnership.

"Bulkheads typically have a 50-year lifespan, (and) we're at year 70 on these," he said. "They've really gone way beyond what the normal useful life is on a bulkhead, and they are failing. There's some that were damaged in Hurricane Michael, but there's a lot that are just damaged from the fact that they've aged out.

"It's not really a question whether or not the bulkheads need to be repaired or replaced. It's really the question of who is going to pay for it."

Looking back: Panama City will negotiate public-private partnership to restore for St. Andrews Marina

Street hopes that by the commission's meeting on April 9, officials will be able to either approve the agreement with St. Andrews Marina Partners, or decide to go back to the drawing board. The meeting will be held at the Bay County Government Building, which is located at 840 W. 11th St., Panama City.

"There are some points that if we don't work through, this agreement may not work," Street said. "My hope is that we're going to come out with an agreement that works for both parties."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: PC works to resolve issues is partnership for St. Andrews Marina