Skaha Lake Marina

See the Design Concepts

• View or Download the Design Concepts

  Download the Skaha Lake Marina plans

   

Background

Proposal Features

• Address immediate capital needs

  PYC plans to complete urgent upgrades to the marina slips, docks and fuel station in preparation for the upcoming season while they confirm timelines and plans for other upgrades.

• Revitalize the marina building

  A $2.5 million investment is planned to revitalize the aging marina building into an amenity for the entire community. The revitalized marina building is proposed to include a family restaurant/pub and accommodate the existing baking/café style offerings. The concept plans submitted will allow for ample community engagement to occur as the design process commences in 2022.  

• Restaurant and food services

  The restaurant will be a sub-lease to the PYC. Sylvia Lake Holdings (current owners of the Barking Parrot and Hooded Merganser etc.), will be leading the reinvestment into the marina building for the purpose of operating a restaurant on site.  Construction of these improvements is proposed to commence at the end of the 2022 season.  

• Improve parking and congestion

  The boat storage and boat valet services are proposed to be relocated offsite which will minimize boat-trailer and vehicle congestion in the parking area and provide additional on-site parking to serve the restaurant and marina services.

• Enhance riparian area and greenspace

  The relocation of the storage and valet service will make it possible to clean up the periphery of the marina lands, including protection of the riparian areas to the east, and to replace asphalt surface with green space/landscaping on site.

• Ease of public access

  With the reconfiguration of the parking, the new site layout will minimize the fencing required and allow for a pedestrian link to the surrounding park lands and enhance the waterfront and riparian lands to the east for the enjoyment of the community.

• Indigenous recognition

  The proponents engaged the Penticton Indian Band (PIB) to outline their proposal. The opportunities for cultural expression and future collaboration were well received.

• Proven and long-standing operator

  The Penticton Yacht Club is a long-standing and proven operator of the Okanagan Lake Marina. The PYC Board of Directors will oversee the build-out and establish a committee structure and management team at the Skaha Marina under the PYC Society.  The governance structure allows for efficiencies in operations between the Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake Marina.

• Partnership with a non-profit society

  As a non-profit society, PYC will ensure that profits are reinvested back into the marina to sustain it into the future. The not-for-profit governance model will provide for a long-term commitment and consistency in terms of dealing with the City.  

• Funding of all capital upgrades and maintenance

  Capital upgrades in the short-term will include a $565,000 investment into the marina docks and slips, fuel system and fire suppression to support marina users’ safety.  All future major capital upgrades will be funded by the PYC as annual surplus funds will be set aside into PYC Capital Reserves. Maintenance of the facility will be the responsibility of the PYC, the standard of which will be built into the eventual Management Operating Agreement. 

• Sound financial operations

  The financial viability of the PYC is backed by its long-term operational success at Okanagan Lake.  As the City has an existing lease with the PYC for the Okanagan Lake Marina, the City already has an established relationship with this group and has had visibility to their financial operations for many years.  

• Financial contribution

  In addition to funding the capital upgrades, the PYC has budgeted an annual payment of $45,000 to the City, which will be reviewed as larger investments are made in the marina lands. With the proposed capital and annual contributions, the City will see over $3 million of non-taxpayer dollars invested in the renewal of this amenity and will see this facility become self-funded for the future.

• Assurances

  The proposal provides letters of assurance from the PYC, restaurant and boat storage operators.  As part of the discussions with the proponent, security bonds would also be provided prior to the commencement of any construction occurring on site. Through the negotiation of the Management Operating Agreement and prior to signing the agreement, requirements will be built in to ensure the construction of the proposed restaurant.  This will likely be tied to the Provincial lease and liquor licence being granted, all which staff will be working towards over the coming months.

• Continuation of Services

  Within the first year, the majority of operations will take place as they have in the past to support a smooth transition and allow PYC to work towards the longer term investments that will be made. All current slip holders will be maintained as desired at the current annual rental rates at transition with no major increases to the moorage rates, other than cost of living into the future.  The proponent is committed to learning more about the current operations and exploring opportunities to involve existing service providers.

• Additional renderings

Realizing the Skaha Plan

Request for Proposal Process

• RFP parameters

  The terms upon which the City sought proposals under the RFP process included the following parameters, which were communicated to the community in advance of the Community Opinion process:

  • Period of term up to 25 years
  • Maintain existing property and water boundaries
  • Maintain similar dock configuration
  • Operate using similar sized building footprint
  • Performance reviews every 3-5 years
  • Provide the following Marina services:
    • Short-term and long-term moorage both on water and vertical dry dock storage, including provision of a Fire Suppression system
    • Marine repairs to support Skaha Marina use and accessory retail store
    • Gas dock with fuel sales
    • Watercraft and equipment rentals
    • Operation of a café and/or licensed restaurant
  • Parking demand analysis based on the proposal brought forward
• RFP scoring criteria

  Contained within the RFP document were the scoring criteria for the review of proposals submitted through the RFP process, as outlined in the table below.

  SCORED CRITERIA	WEIGHT
  Financial Contribution & Viability i.    Annual Rental fee proposed (set fee, percentage of revenue etc.) ii.    Capital upgrade plan (proponent involvement, level and nature of capital contribution, partnership if any with City  iii.    Financial viability of organization iv.    Financial assurances or performance guarantees of proponent	25%
  Benefit to the City & Community i.    Alignment with the Skaha Lake Park East Master Plan and relevant City policies ii.    Marina Services iii.    Food & Beverage Services iv.    Approach to supporting local use of marina	30%
  Proponents Team  i.    Design and Construction (if necessary) ii.    Operations and Maintenance iii.    Past performance  iv.    Reference Checks	20%
  Proponents Plan  i.    Market Research ii.    Marketing Plan iii.    Design and Construction iv.    Operations Plan v.    Maintenance Standards vi.    Financial Plan vii.    Construction & Opening Schedule viii.    Capital Maintenance Plan	25%

  The RFP process commenced on September 8, 2021 and was made available until November 30, 2021, when the submission period closed.  A total of three (3) submissions were received at the end of the RFP process. The submissions were reviewed for the completeness and compliance with the procurement requirements and then distributed to the Evaluation Committee for review. The Evaluation Committee consisted of six City staff and a member of the public.

  Staff want to acknowledge the time and effort that went into each of the three (3) proposals that were submitted as part of the RFP process.  Each brought unique values and a range of opportunities to the process, however it was clear through the review process that only one of the proposals met the ability to partner with the community on a long-term Management Operating Agreement of up to 25 years for the Skaha Marina lands.  The comprehensive review undertaken by the Evaluation Committee and the process that was completed to review the proposals resulted in the selection of one proposal to be brought forward for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee’s review.

Request for Proposal Background

• September 7, 2021

  Staff then presented the recommendation to Council and at their Meeting on September 7, 2021, Council then passed the following resolution:

  It was MOVED and SECONDED

  THAT Council approve the Skaha Lake Marina Request for Proposal as provided in Attachment A of the report dated September 7, 2021 titled “Skaha Lake Marina: Request for Proposal”.
                                                                                                                                                                                    CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
   

• August 24, 2021

  On August 24, 2021, staff presented the Draft Request of Proposals to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee. The Committee then passed the following resolution:

  It was MOVED and SECONDED
  THAT the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee recommend to Council that the Skaha Lake Marina Request for Proposal document be supported.
                                                                                                                                                                                          CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
   

• July 20, 2021

  Staff then presented a report to Council on July 20, 2021 with a summary of the Community Opinions results and identification of next steps, including the development of a draft RFP to seek proponents for the development of a long-term Operating Management Agreement up to 25 years for the Skaha Marina Lands.  The following resolution was passed:

  222/2021     It was MOVED and SECONDED

  THAT Council reaffirm their commitment to abide by the results of the Community Opinion Question that was successfully supported on the June 19, 2021 by-election ballot;

  AND THAT Council direct staff to proceed to develop a Request for Proposals for the development of a long-term Operating Management Agreement up to 25 years for the Skaha Marina lands and refer the proposal to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for review before returning to Council for approval.
                                                                                                                                                                                       CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

• June 19, 2021

  The Community Opinion was held at the June 19th By-Election where the following question was asked:

  Do you support the City selecting a private operator and entering into a long-term agreement of up to 25 years in order to fund the marina improvements and provide marina services at Skaha Lake Park?

  YES or NO

  The results of the Skaha Marina Community Opinion from the June 19, 2021 By-Election were as follows:
  YES:     2,453
  NO:     2,416

• March 31, 2021

  On March 31, 2021 Council endorsed the Community Opinion Question related to the Skaha Lake Marina lands to be held at the June 19, 2021 By-Election, and passed the following resolution:

  109/2021 It was MOVED and SECONDED
  THAT Council seek a community mandate to establish a long-term agreement with a private operator to help fund the capital improvements and operate the Skaha Marina by including the following question on the spring 2021 by-election ballot;

  Do you support the City selecting a private operator and entering into a long-term agreement of up to 25 years in order to fund the marina improvements and provide marina services at Skaha Lake Park?

  YES or NO

  AND THAT the Council resolve to abide by the results of Community Opinion Question on the by-election ballot;

  AND THAT if there is community support through the by-election, the proposed operating agreement will be brought back to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for review and a recommendation prior to being presented to Council for a decision.
                                                                                                                                                                                      CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY