By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The Osoyoos Desert Sunrise Marina will likely be less of a bargain this coming summer as council agrees to increase the cost of boat slips which has remained unchanged since the marina’s opening in 2013, along with the possible introduction of fees for boat launching and parking.
The 32-slip marina is operated through a sub-license agreement with City Shoreline Development, the developer of the Watermark Beach Resort, which manages 16 slips.
A further 16 slips are managed by the town which includes one RCMP and one Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society slip. Four commercial slips fall under a different lease agreement with the onsite Wakepilot business, an agreement which is set to expire in Sept. 2025.
From the archive – June 29, 2010: Plans for a marina just south of Lions Park include 134 boat slips. A bylaw amendment that would allow for the construction of the marina is currently before council. A second public hearing on the matter is scheduled for July. 6.
“Since we opened in 2013 we actually haven’t had any changes in our fees,” said Gerald Davis, Director of Community Services.
Currently the Osoyoos marina charges $1,500 plus GST per season for a regular slip while the commercial slips are set at $2,000 plus GST per season. Since opening the marina has had a wait list with Davis noting there are currently 50 people on the list with an average wait of 5 – 7 years until a slip is available.
The Community Services department is recommending a $250 increase per slip per season along with a $250 capital improvement fee or more per slip, both of which were approved by council.
Davis went on to say that in 2025 there’s plans to make some improvements to the boat launch, which has an estimated cost of $150,000, in part due to damage caused by the semi-truck cab that mistakenly drove down the boat launch.
A semi-truck cab ended up partially submerged in the Osoyoos Marina in late April.
Devon Lee/Facebook photo
Davis went on to say that a portion of the necessary improvement work is a result of errant boat owners “power loading” in which the boat motor is used to load and unload a boat onto and off a trailer which damages the launch ramp and lakebed.
“This is something that we’ve been keeping an eye on and Wakepilot was doing a great job to make sure that people weren’t doing that, but obviously over the years and in the time when they’re not there, this continues to happen.”
Davis also noted that following an inspection by an environmental biologist after the semi-truck cab incident it was highlighted that dredging would soon be required, work that carries “a huge cost” estimated to be in the “several hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he added. And like much of the infrastructure in Osoyoos there was never a reserve set aside for capital improvements by past administrations.
The town undertook a rate review of marinas up and down the Okanagan Valley – a few operated by local government, a number of private and quite a lot operated by non-profit societies. Davis noted that large ones such as those in Kelowna offer many amenities like restaurants, storage, fuel, servicing, etc but these also typically have annual membership fees that can stretch from a few hundred dollars to over $11,500 in the case of Kelowna Yacht Club.
“Capital improvement fees are quite common, something that we don’t do or haven’t done here as part of an asset management plan,” he said, adding these fees are typically based on the size of the vessel.
Mayor Sue McKortoff raised the issue of ice damage that occurred a few years ago, to which Davis noted that each winter aerators are now placed in the marina to keep the water moving and help prevent ice buildup. Davis noted this was a another example of why it would it be advantageous to have a reserve fund for unexpected repairs.
Ice did some serious damage to the docks at the Desert Sunrise marina in 2017.
Ken Baker photo
A $150,000 item had to be included in the budget document currently being discussed in order to undertake the repairs necessitated by the semi-truck damage according to Rod Risling, Osoyoos CAO.
Councillor Johnny Cheong asked if there was any agreement or stipulations around cost sharing for upgrades, repairs and maintenance of the marina facilities. Davis noted that according to the agreement it is a 50/50 cost sharing responsibility between the town and City Shoreline Development (Watermark) which would also include the $150,000 to be spent this spring.
The issue of whether an increase to the fee charged by the town for its slips would impact the Watermark’s, Davis noted the resort can charge as it likes for its 16 slips. Currently it charges a minimum monthly charge of $210 from April to a maximum charge per month in July and August of $1,175.
On the subject of boat launching it was noted that it’s not uncommon to have charges of anywhere up to $15 to launch a boat at other popular locations around BC and while it might be a good way to earn some money there are problems associated with the logistics of collecting the fees.
Councillor Zach Poturica noted that discussions around launching fees might be combined with that of charging for marina parking, at some point in the future.
