Marina General Information
1. The Bay Ridge Civic Association runs the Marina under a Committee called the Pier Committee. The seven members of the Committee, along with their Phone Numbers, are published in the BRCA Phone Directory. Any one of us would be happy to try and answer any questions; however certain members of the Committee handle particular aspects of running the Marina. For general questions or comments about the Marina, or the availability of slips, contact Kurt Karsten. For gate keys to either the parking area contact Dave Humphreys or for the ramp, contact Shawn Geraghty.
2. The portion of the 80 East Lake Drive BRCA Facility that the Pier Committee helps take care of is the docks and the slips made by those docks and some of the moorings off the docks. That is it. The ramp is a separate facility and it is taken care of by a Ramp Committee. For questions about using the ramp, contact Shawn Geraghty. The Clubhouse is a separate facility that is taken care of by others in BRCA. For questions about the clubhouse, contact Bill Seiling, whose number is in the directory.
3. The Pier Committee does not “police” the lake. The Department of Natural Resources is the only authorized “police” on the lake and any comments or questions or concerns should be reported to their office located at City Dock in Downtown.
4. The Marina is a community Marina, under Anne Arundel County Law. That means it is not-for-profit and it is run by the BRCA for the benefit of the members of the community with the costs of the Marina shared equally by the people in the community who have slips or moorings – what we call the “Slip Holders.” The Pier Committee holds a meeting of the Slip holders every three months to help in the governance of the Marina and to facilitate communication about the Marina. As well, a member of the pier committee tries to attend the monthly BRCA membership meetings held the second Monday of each month, and give a report on Marina Activities and field questions about the Marina. Finally, there is usually a section called “Marina News” in the Newsletter published each month by BRCA. The email addresses of Pier Committee members are in the BRCA Phone Directory.
5. Slips or moorings in the Marina are only available to actual members of the BRCA who actually own a boat. The application process for slips in the Marina is done as much as possible by email and internet. Slip assignments are made according to a priority system which gives preference to those who live 100% of the time in Bay Ridge and own 100% of the boat and 100% of their Bay Ridge Property. Less than 100% on any of these three criteria gets less preference in the initial assignment of slips.
6. The waitlist moves fairly quickly depending upon the size of boat you are trying to get a slip for. In many community marinas around Annapolis, the waitlist is many years long. Bay Ridge is lucky because we have a lot more slips than most community marinas and we have private docks on the lake. Based upon recent figures, the waitlist for boats less than 25 feet is often less than 1-2 years. We have fewer “large boat slips” and the waitlist for those may be 2-4 years. To keep that waitlist moving, it is a basic requirement in Bay Ridge that you must already own the boat when you apply for a slip or position on the waitlist and you must pay a refundable $250 waitlist deposit at the time of application. You may not get a position on the waitlist before you actually own a boat and pay the deposit.
7. Because the charges for slip rental are based upon an actual sharing of the costs of running the marina, the annual rent for slips is low – currently $15.00 per foot of boat length. To finance capital improvements – we recently have re-built much of the marina and have maintained a prudent schedule of predictable replacement costs – there is a one-time deposit (ranging from $800 for small boats to $3500 for larger boats) due at the time of the assignment of a slip. This deposit is refunded, in most circumstances, when you give up your slip. (See the Marina Rules on the Website for details.)
8. Once a slip is assigned to a boat, BRCA will renew either that slip from year to year or another appropriate slip, for as long as you own the boat and live or own property in Bay Ridge. This is to make having a place to keep your boat predictable. Because some long time residents of Bay Ridge have had two boats in the marina since long before the Marina became full and they helped pay for the re-construction and maintenance of the Marina, there are a handful of “two boat owners” in the Marina. A few years ago, a compromise was reached in an effort to make the marina ultimately become “one household – one slip” as those two boat owners move out or sell their boats. This policy of attrition and grandfathering was adopted by all at the time as a fair compromise in the process of getting to a “one household – one slip” rule, now that boating on the Chesapeake is much more popular than it was in the 1990′s and before.
9. The Slips are assigned pursuant to an initial “Contract” between BRCA and the Slip Holder, which automatically renews each year for which a renewal application is made. As well, each slip holder, on behalf of themselves, their families and guests, agrees to abide by a set of Slip holder Rules. Regularly updated copies of both of these documents are available on the Bay Ridge Web page or in hard copy from Kurt Karsten. Failure to abide by these rules and regulations can lead to loss of the privilege of having a slip.
March 2016