Moran Asks Price Tag Needed To Keep Marina Open

By TRIGIE EALEY Journal staff writer

U.S. Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th District, has fired off a letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton expressing his support for keeping the Belle Haven Marina on the Potomac River open.

Belle Haven Marina Inc. will close when its contract with the George Washington Memorial Parkway expires Dec. 31, according to the National Park Service.

While acknowledging needed safety improvements, Moran's letter describes Belle Haven as "a wonderful, eclectic marina" that is affordable and convenient for Washington area residents.

In his May 2 letter, Moran noted past efforts to keep Belle Haven open, including $250,000 he secured in the fiscal 1999 Interior Appropriations Act. The funds were supposed to be matched by the Fairfax County Park Authority or other non-federal sources to pay for the needed improvements to the marina.

When other funding sources were not identified and Fairfax County determined the improvements were too expensive for its budget, the $250,000 was reassigned to other National Park Service needs. Then Moran secured additional funding.

"Last year, as part of the fiscal 2001 Interior Appropriations Act," Moran wrote, "I was able to secure $100,000 in federal funds to stabilize environmental conditions at the marina and properly maintain the site for public use."

According to the Park Service, the marina needs $1 million to $1.5 million in safety and health improvements to repair erosion damage at the shoreline and to bring the marina up to current safety codes.

Yesterday, George Stevens, contract operator of the marina, disagreed with Park Service cost estimates for repairs he admits are needed.

"We don't want a gold-plated marina," he said. "It's a 50-year-old marina. It's not up to code because it's 50 years old, but the Park Service never updated it."

He said the aging property is showing its age, but "it's the nicest it's ever been. Now it's a family place. Parents have no problem dropping their kids off here."

Stevens said the community has shown its support in telephone calls and e-mails and at two National Park Service open houses earlier this week.

"It has been overwhelming," he said. "It's been way beyond what we normally do. People have come up on bikes and expressed their support. They don't even have boats."

In his letter, Moran asked Norton to "preserve, to the maximum extent feasible, all current recreational facilities at the marina."

If the Park Service and Interior Department determine additional federal funding can be used to bring the marina up to code, he asks Norton to "provide the balance of funds needed" to make it happen.

A 1995 Park Service feasibility study determined marina rehabilitation was "financially infeasible" without the NPS contributing at least $1.5 million, according to Park Service documents.

Stevens scoffs at the idea, saying the Park Service has set an impossible standard requiring the concessionaire to repay the cost of repairs and make a profit in 10 years.

"There's no reason why a long-term investment can't be paid back over 30, 40, 50 years," he said. "Even a home mortgage is 30 years."

Stevens' company oversees the boat ramps, a sailing school and rental of canoes, kayaks and sailboats. The company has a total of 135 spaces for boats, including 70 wet slips, 25 private moorings and 60 dry-slip storages.

Saying it is prohibited by federal law from renewing Stevens' contract, the Park Service is offering seven alternatives to the existing use, one of which Parkway Superintendent Audrey F. Calhoun will select. Common among all alternative plans, available on the Park Service Web site, is the elimination of dry-slip storage to provide more parking and better traffic circulation.

The project timeline calls for environmental assessments and public meetings this summer and a final decision document in the fall.

Stevens has offered his own plan to reorganize the marina to provide more parking, more kayak and canoe racks along with the construction of new docks to increase access to the river, while addressing NPS concerns about the deterioration of the existing fixed piers.