February 2015 - GSL-Marina - mailman.xmission.com

Tribune article
by Janet Robins 28 Feb '15

28 Feb '15

It appears the article did not make today's Salt Lake Tribune - I am hopeful this means it will be in Sunday's paper (which is better for us, because it has more circulation. Janet Robins The Safety Consortium 400 W. Lawndale Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801-746-2462 Fax: 801-803-6266

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Dredging - Salt Lake Tribune
by Janet Robins 28 Feb '15

28 Feb '15

Heads up - everyone look for a Salt Lake Tribune article regarding dredging in Saturday's paper, followed by an op-ed piece written by Bill Keshler (hopefully on Sunday) Just remember, the fights not over - any group of people who would go to the extreme's they do to heel a boat over to get out of the marina, can certainly handle a few State bureaucrats :o) Janet Robins The Safety Consortium 400 W. Lawndale Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801-746-2462 Fax: 801-803-6266

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March 21st Barbecue & Meeting
by Harbormaster 27 Feb '15

27 Feb '15

GSL Slip Renters. Jeremy Shaw (the complex manager) and I had a meeting today about the dire snowpack and what do we do if we just don't get much more snow this year. It was a good meeting and we have some plans as to where to put all the boats that may need to pull out and how to accommodate them. Again, neither he or I know any information on dredging yet and are likely not going to know anything for a few more weeks. One of the topics I discussed with him is just trying to keep the marina community together the best we can during these challenging conditions. He is fully onboard with this. So we want to invite the whole marina community out to a free day on Antelope Island on Saturday, March 21st. Parks will comp all entry fees on the island as well as host a free lunch barbecue down at the historic Fielding Garr ranch house. We chose March 21st for a few reasons. The first is that March is a great time to be down at the ranch as it will be too early in the season for the pesky no-see-ums and mosquitos. And the trees and plants will be budding. Antelope Island is quite beautiful in the spring and a wonderful place to visit. The other reason for the March 21st date is that the legislative session will be over and we should know whether money will or will not be appropriated by then for dredging. And we will also know much more about where we are with snowpack and what impact that will have with lake levels this summer and fall. Both Jeremy and I will be available to discuss all these issues with you with much more certainty. We can also discuss needs for Crane Days this spring and plans for dry storage in the marina parking lot if the need arises to pull most of the boats from the marina. I will need RSVP's for this outing so that we can plan entry passes for each vehicle as well as plan for meals. I would expect the outing to start around 11am on the island with the barbecue around noon followed by a question and answer period. Please RSVP to dshearer@gslmarinacom For those with dogs please remember that Antelope Island is a regular park with wildlife. Leash laws are strictly enforced. And also remember that even though the buffalo look so tame and cute they do not like to be petted or approached. They WILL charge. Don't pet the buffalo. Thank you. Dave Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina Antelope Island State Marina 801-209-9142

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Crane Day
by Dave Shearer 26 Feb '15

26 Feb '15

GSL Slip Renters, I'm thinking of postponing the March crane day. We have five boats signed up to pull out and no boats signed up to put in (go figure). Anyway, I am watching the lake levels closely and am thinking, since it is unlikely boats will be signing up to put in to a marina they may not be able to get out of in a few months, that it makes more sense to postpone Crane Day until April or even May. We have quite a demand for crane services. We just have several boats that can't make the March date. My plan is to hire two cranes just as the lake shows signs that it has topped out and is beginning to drop (historically April through early June). This will give the best advantage to the deeper draft boats to reach the crane-out spot. And why two cranes? Many of you do not have trailers. The plan would be to lift boats out without trailers and temporarily put them on the state trailer or another loaner trailer and then transport them to the area of the parking lot we will set up for dry storage. This is where the other crane will be staged and will lift the boat off the trailer and onto boat stands or cradles. Each boat owner will be responsible for purchasing boat stands or cradles. We do not have cradles or boat stands for long term rental. Sorry. We are finally getting snow at the marina today and in the mountains. Although this is a small storm it is opening the door for a much larger storm early next week. And it looks as though there are a series of storms behind that one. We may finally be getting the winter we deserve. But I feel I must be truthful with you and tell you the snowpack is not great right now. We are only at 74% for the Great Salt Lake Drainage area. We need a significant rebound in March and April. It can happen. It has before. But I think it is time to plan for the worst case scenario. And that is that we may only have 3 feet of water in the marina if our snowpack doesn't climb to 100% by the end of April. And it is possible we may have less than two feet in the marina mouth. We also only have about three feet of water from the end of B dock to the launch ramp. I will keep you posted weekly on snowpack percentages and lake levels so that you can make your own decisions on what to do with your boats. I'm sorry that I do not have any new news on dredging at this time. And if we do not start getting significant snowpack, even with dredging, boats with drafts over four feet may still be in trouble by fall. SNOW! PLEASE! One more positive bit of news is that there is 4.9 feet of water in the mouth. Get out and use your boats while you can. Spring sailing on the lake is some of the best. For those who have already signed up for the March crane day please give me your feedback on postponing. Dave Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina Antelope Island State Marina 801-209-9142

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Sunset Pic
by Janet Robins 26 Feb '15

26 Feb '15

I need one really good picture showing the boats in the marina with the sunset behind it please Janet Robins The Safety Consortium 400 W. Lawndale Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801-746-2462 Fax: 801-803-6266

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Need Pictures
by Janet Robins 25 Feb '15

25 Feb '15

I am need of pictures of the following Antelope Island Marina in it's current condition (also a picture of Antelope Island Marina when it was being used and functional) Tour buses in the parking lot (the more tour buses in one picture the better) Any pictures of any rescues by the rescue boats Any pictures of stormy conditions on the GSL Anyone have one of those great pictures of Tomcat being heeled over to get in and out of the mouth of the marina? Any other pictures you feel would help me get our point across - please do not send pics of sunsets and stuff like that - I have plenty of those Unfortunately - you all are aware I am on a time crunch - I need these pictures ASAP Janet Robins The Safety Consortium 400 W. Lawndale Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801-746-2462 Fax: 801-803-6266

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GSL Marina Dredging - FB Page Created
by Janet Robins 24 Feb '15

24 Feb '15

Bill Keshlear created a Facebook page called "Don't let access to the Great Salt Lake dry up." Please go "like" the page and share with your friends Janet Robins The Safety Consortium 400 W. Lawndale Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801-746-2462 Fax: 801-803-6266

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Appropriation of Funds to Dredge the GSL Marina
by Fred Austin 21 Feb '15

21 Feb '15

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fred Austin I am 68 years old and retired. I have sailed on the Great Salt Lake for 34 years and I am a member of the Great Salt Lake Volunteer Emergency Response Team. At the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on February 6, 2015, 1.5 million dollars was allocated to dredge the Utah Lake Marina. I am requesting that this decision be reconsidered and that the1.5 million dollars be allocated to dredge the Great Salt Lake Marina. Please consider the following: . The Utah State Parks & Recreation Rescue boats operate out of the Great Salt Lake Marina. These boats, crewed by the Harbormaster and members of the Great Salt Lake Volunteer Emergency Response Team. They have rescued duck hunters, kayakers, paddle boarders, swimmers, sailboats and their crews, brine shrimpers, located downed airplanes and recovered pilots and passenger's bodies. It is absolutely critical that the rescue boats can navigate in and out of the marina safely. On January 10, 2015, Rescue One retrieved the body of a downed pilot, located the downed aircraft and at the direction of the NTSB towed the downed aircraft into the Great Salt Lake Marina. . Great Salt Lake Marina has been in its current location, in one form or another, for nearly 100 years. . The current Great Salt Lake Marina was rebuilt and opened in 1980. It was and still is a world class marina. However, the entire marina has never been properly dredged since its 1980 opening. . Of 43 Utah State Parks, only 5 are operating in the black. Great Salt Lake Marina State Park is one of those 5, generating excess revenue to help support other state parks. . Fiscal year 2014 Great Salt Lake Marina brought in $455,000 in revenues. Roughly $300,000 was slip rent. The Great Salt Lake Marina brought in a net profit to Utah State Parks of about $154,000 (which is used to support other state parks and marinas). . The Great Salt Lake Marina has 320 boat slips. Due to low water levels and silting that has built up over the last 30 years, many boats have lost the ability to navigate out of the marina. In the past 3 years, 80 of those boats have left the marina, resulting in a loss of revenue to the state of Utah of $120,000 annually in slip rent. . If dredging does not happen in the marina this year many more boats will be leaving, losing more slip rental fees, property taxes and registration fees. The loss of many more boats will result in the park being unable to continue to operate at a profit, and will likely join the other 37 parks that operate at a loss. . The boat launch ramp inside the Great Salt Lake Marina is not currently usable to most boats. Until dredging occurs, this launch ramp is only accessible to very shallow draft boats, not sailboats and it is very difficult to launch and retrieve large power boats such as Rescue One the Parks Rescue Boat. . Every spring the Great Salt Lake Marina has a crane available to put sailboats in and out of the water. Cost of the crane is split among the boat owners using it, not the State. Typically, more sailboats go in the water in the spring than come out. This year could be the exception. Many people are now considering pulling their sailboats out (permanently) in the spring, before their sailboat gets stuck in the silt (mud) or they can no longer navigate to the area needed to be removed by the crane. . Once these sailboats leave the state, Utah also loses the registration fees, which is lost revenue for State Boating Restricted Funds (which pay for Search and Rescue Boats and fuel for these boats) . Without dredging, it is likely that many more boats will leave the Great Salt Lake Marina this year. These boats don't just sit in someone's driveway waiting until they can once again get out of the marina, most boat owners will re-locate their boats to other states, mainly California, and never come back. Transporting a boat is very expensive, and once these boats leave they are not likely to be brought back to the Great Salt Lake. Not only is this the loss of slip rental, but property tax dollars as well (and property taxes benefit education). . Being only 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake, the Great Salt Lake Marina is one of the most visited state parks. Numerous tour buses are in and out of the marina every day of the week. In 2012 it was reported that 254,000 visitors came to Great Salt Lake State Park. . The newly constructed Visitor Center, brought in revenue of $97,000 last year, and is on track to at least double that this year. . Great Salt Lake Marina is the home of Gonzo Boat Rentals and Tours, and Sailing Solutions. These are two small charter businesses that give opportunities to tourists to get out on the lake and learn more about this unique state resource. If we have a weak snowpack both these concessionaries may well be trapped inside the undredged marina, eliminating a valuable resource for tourists to venture out on the lake. I want to thank you for your time and consideration. But I also want to make sure you understand that the Sailors on the Great Salt Lake are not a "bunch of rich guys". The average sailboat is 25 feet in length and the value is approximated $3,000 to $5,000 dollars. What is really unusual about the Great Salt Lake Marina is that once a boat is placed in the Marina and a slip is rented the boat is used year round and stays in the marina, paying slip rental, an average of ten years. If you have any questions or if I may be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Fred Austin 4403 S. 4625 W. West Valley City, Utah 84120 (801) 541-9122 fmaustin(a)comcast.net

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GSL Users - Any Attorneys ???
by Janet Robins 20 Feb '15

20 Feb '15

?Are any of the GSL Marina users also attorneys? If so, would you be willing to answer a few questions for me regarding the dredging situation???

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DREDGING - Clarification
by Janet Robins 20 Feb '15

20 Feb '15

?There seems to be a little bit of confusion on this point, so I just want to clear it up The first time I asked everyone to write letters - those letters went to the Appropriations Sub-Committee, and this is where we also had the chance to speak and address the committee. The second time I asked you to send letters - I sent a new email list. This is the list for the Executive Appropriations Committee (not the sub-committee). So if you sent letters the first time I asked - please resend those letters to the Executive Appropriations Committee - these new email addresses are in the email that I sent on February 17 - The subject line said Dredging - Write, Contact, Call

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