Where's Mark?

Mark Morosis, you're gonna come up and do a presentation.

Mark Marsitz uh 10 Harvard Street, I'm communication chair of the Newport Yacht Club here tonight also to answer questions.

If you have them are our Commodore, FJ Ritt, Vice Commodore Kyle Lepley, our treasurer Morgan Everson, our past Commodore Pam Grant.

So and there are many members obviously here interested in the proceedings tonight.

So thank you for having us here.

I want to start by just saying thank you to the council, thank you to the staff.

We've been at this now for two and a half years of talking to counselors, talking to various city city managers, and I think a lot of really thoughtful questions have been asked.

And I'm going to try to recap as many of uh those questions have that have been asked and answers as we can.

Um take about five to seven minutes to do that.

And then of course, we're uh very interested in uh hearing what you, the council have to say and the questions that you have for us.

So thank you.

Um question that really came up was why why are we asking for this renewal now?

We got eight years left in our final extension.

And I think that the important answer there is this really provides certainty both for the club and the city.

Um we make a lot of improvements to the property at no cost to the city that benefit for the whole harbor.

So, for example, in the last 10 years, um, there was over a million dollars invested in the East West Attenuator dock, which provides surge protection for that entire corner of the harbor in which uh Parate Park is located.

Um, there's work that needs to be done on the seawall.

There's a wide variety of work.

The way we do this is we do it through bank loans, and those bank loans are paid off by members.

And of course, banks want to know that you have time to retire debt before they make a loan.

So, right now, with eight years left on the lease, it's not enough time to secure financing for more harbor improvements, more investment at the club.

And it's also taken us two and a half years to get to this point.

So we wanted to start early and make sure that we can actually make a plan for the future that the city and us can have some confidence in.

Um the other thing uh was a question of you know, what's what is this agreement really cover?

I've been asked this question a lot.

Um this is for all intents and purposes a land lease.

What we are leasing is four tenths of an acre of land.

One tenth of that property is used by the harbormaster for the operation shed, boat storage, in addition to the boats.

The clubhouse, the marina, the equipment, and the seawalls are owned and maintained by the club.

We are not renting a marina, we're renting four tenths of an acre of land.

We love that we're able to rent that that four tenths of an acre of land.

Also important to note the club is a 501 C7 organization.

So the none nothing is inuring to benefit of any individuals.

The money that we retain from operations is money that's reinvested in the club, the facilities and and the and the property.

Decisions are made by uh board of trustees elected by the members and or by a vote of the members.

Um we really work hard to optimize the value of that land for everyone.

Um we do produce a four-point um community benefit plan each year.

Um, if I may, I think some of you have seen this, but if I may bring it up, I'd share it with you.

No, I thought I'll show you.

Oh no holds barred.

So um that uh the four points of that plan are civic engagement, youth and adult education, um, the environment, and civic collaboration.

A few examples of this um in the youth um arena.

Um we've had about a thousand youth, um, a hundred plus each summer go through the youth sailing adventure camp.

We provide scholarships to that uh adventure camp for up to about um uh 20 young people.

Um we also host the Gold Star sailing program each season.

The Gold Star sailing program and camp is for young people who have uh lost a service member.

Um my friend Sharon McGuinness is here tonight and she'll say a few words about that.

We also have a few letters from some of the participants in the youth sailing camp.

Um, another part of um that benefit is actively hosting weeknight regattas, major events, and frostbite sailing.

These are open to the public.

They're run, managed by volunteers.

It's volunteers in the club that keep the boats in the water that keep the events going.

And many members of the public do participate in this, not just members.

And particularly when it comes to the major events, this is a big part of the city's economic development that we have transient boaters and transient sailors and others, as well as just supporting the maritime community.

The clubhouse and the club facilities have been used just in the past year or two for by Harbor Master education programs, the Coast Guard and Better Bay Alliance safety training programs, all of which are open to the public.

For example, I teach the paddle safety programs.

I had, I think, 90 people in this past season attend three paddle safety programs at the club.

There's no charge to anyone for these organizations, puts the facility to good work.

Also, in in civic collaboration, there are many ways we collaborate with the city.

We're often asked to participate and do other things, but as most of you know, um, we assumed responsibility for the holiday parade of lights uh last year.

The clubhouse is open for that.

The event goes on.

It's a great Newport event, and a lot of club members volunteer to make sure that that happens in addition to some who decorate their boats and get out there on the water as well.

Um so let's talk about the money, the fiscal return.

I think I'm sure you've all very carefully read um the terms of the amendment.

Um we have always had an annual um CPI increase indexed to the Boston CPI.

That's been somewhere between three and four percent per annum, roughly from what I could look back on over the course of these um negotiations with uh now three city managers.

Um there is also now a 10% uh base rate increase, and there is uh new 15% share with the city of our non-member transient dock revenue.

This is another way to participate for the city to participate in in the revenue that that asset is able to generate.

The club does pay about uh 20,000, a little more than that in property taxes each year.

And and as I mentioned in the last decade, um, in about about a million in capital improvements that benefited the harbor.

Um, and there is every intention uh of making similarly scaled um capital improvements that will not only benefit the club but benefit the harbor in the decade ahead.

Um the other thing, I'm just speaking as a resident, is I like the idea that the city retains control of this land.

Um it's I think it's an important asset.

I think what it may mean for the city in 30 years when this lease is up.

Hopefully, it's another 30 years for the club, but there may be another use that's much more vital in the world, and the way water and harbors are changing.

Um it's and I think you have a good history for 131 years.

I don't think the club has ever said no or broken a promise.

And um, I I think it it should provide some assurance that you'll have great stewardship.

There's great continuity.

Um, my colleague um Pam Grant, who I introduced, um her dad was a commodore of the club back in the back in the 40s, and uh our vice commodore uh Kyle Leple, uh, when this was discussed with the then counsel um over 30 years ago, his dad was standing where I was today.

So there's a lot of commitment and longevity to the stewardship of this, and when people make a commitment, there's there's some longevity to it.

Um the club also fulfills um many of the points in the harbor management plan, not solely, but we're a piece of that.

Harbor Management Plan calls for adequate dockage and amenities, not just for Newport residents, but for transient and and visiting mariners.

Um we're a great place for transient visiting mariners, including those with with small boats.

So somebody said something interesting to me the other day that the Newport Yacht Club is the only marine in the harbor where the boats are getting smaller and not bigger.

So we're still trying to be a place where the the average boater can either locally have a place for their boat or certainly people can come and visit.

We do provide one of the nine sanitary pump outs that are required by DEM regulations.

Um we have we were the first yacht club to achieve a clean marina certification for our environmental um stewardship and have uh our own environmental plan.

You'll see that in the benefit plan.

Um we've always been around to support in emergency preparedness, in addition to really welcoming the the Harbor Master and the Harbormaster team.

There have been a lot of times because that's such a tranquil corner that people have needed a little bit of refuge or um needed somebody to keep a lookout, uh, the club and its members and its staff are there.

Um, and we really um I believe very strongly are one of a few last bastions that are preserving Newport's authentic seaport character.

I quote from the recently completed harbor management plan.

This was also in previous harbor management plans, that Newport's historical, cultural, social, recreational, and economic vitality is defined by its character as an authentic seaport community.

All of those who live, work, and play here benefit from preserving our legacy of mixed and diverse waterfront use.

We are a part of that mixed and diverse waterfront use and and fully intend to stay part of that.

The other question, and I'm getting close to wrapping up here.

Um, that I know has been asked is you know, who are we?

How much do we pay?

What is our membership look like?

Um, and here's a snapshot and a little bit of information.

There are 575 voting members.

There's another 125 or so people, young adults, other categories, but this is how we uh do our uh statistical accounting.

At present, 50% are Newport residents, but many more are former residents.

We have a lot of members who, when it came time to retire and downsize, couldn't afford to do that in Newport anymore.

We have children of members who grew up in the yacht club, who I'm sure would have loved to stay in Newport.

Um, but no, they remain loyal to Newport, but they have to live someplace else because that's where they can afford to raise a family.

Also, a lot of people that have joined the club are very avid members of the sailing community, and they're part of the fleets and the activities that keep this a vital sailing place.

So uh we are um actually proud of our non-residents, but we also realize that we have to um make that ratio as good as it can be.

Just a quick word on those non-residents.

Uh, most of our non-residents work side by side with residents.

They are volunteers, they are out there making those regattas happen, they are running the youth sailing camp.

When I'm putting a dock in with somebody and I'm hanging over a seawall, I don't look over and say, uh, are you from Portsmouth?

I just say, can you look out for me?

So they work.

But we did recognize that that ratio was lower than it had been in the past through time and change.

For the last two years, we've been admitting new members on a four to one resident to non-resident basis.

Um, not to bring up the sensitive topic of moorings, but like the the mooring issue.

Um, and that has been changing the ratio by four percent a year.

So eight years from now, I'm not saying we're gonna hit four percent a year in each of the eight years between now and then, but there's going to be a substantially higher percentage of Newport residents, assuming Newport people still want to join the club, and assuming that we don't have an inordinate passing of members to non-members, but we're very intentionally working at um boosting that ratio, um, but not because we think less of our non-resident colleagues.

Um, when it comes to money, currently the initiation uh is $2,000 for a resident, $4,000 for a non-resident.

In many clubs, what that represents is that residents do tend to spend more money if you're right down the street.

There's higher probability that you're gonna have hamburger or have a beer.

That helps level some of that differential.

Dues are now uh $1,300 a year.

Members amortized about a million dollars in debt in the past decade.

Those are added assessments that we pay.

Again, um we don't uh the membership does not include the food, the beverage, the dockage, the services that we consume.

Those are um pay as you go, and there are countless, countless um hours and sweat equity.

Um Grant uh was able to get me an article from back in 1941.

This is my next to last closing statement.

And in the article, it said the spirit of volunteerism, the yacht club has always been able to pull through through good times and bad due to its loyal members and the spirit of volunteerism.

Tradesmen volunteer their time, talents, and supplies to enhance the clubhouse docks, and even to build boats.

That tradition continues today.

That was in 1941.

Another part of that tradition and spirit, you'll see the building on the crane.

That's a club being moved from about where Parate Park is right now to where it is today.

And that was largely a member engineered and managed thing.

That spirit still exists today.

I I see I saw Peter Jenks walk in here.

Peter was recently reshingling the building, and I've seen him up at the top of the flagpole B and some others who fix the boats.

This is still the spirit is alive and well at the club.

So in closing, um, on behalf of the members who I don't think I could ever do the great job of representing, but I did my best.

As a Newport institution, stable, resilient, community serving as a waterfront steward, protecting the harbor, the character of the harbor as a vital asset, um, turning four-tenths of an acre of land into a place for visitors, into a place for locals, into a lot of programs into a place for the city.

So that's what I have to say.

I look forward to your questions.

Um thank you.

Thank you, Mark.

Uh council have a any questions for Mark?

Um what what would happen if this doesn't this lease doesn't get renewed?

We go into survival mode because it eight years and the lease is over.

And so it's difficult now to make thoughtful strategic plans because those will require investment.

Those require the investment of members, the vote of members.

Um I think we would uh do our best to maintain um business as usual, but um there's an old adage, I don't know who said it, that you cannot time simultaneously prepare for and prevent a nuclear war.

We would probably have to go into the mode of saying, where do we go next?

Can we go anywhere next?

So it would be a radical shift in our future outlook.

Um I think that's the answer.

And then can you uh just do give me a uh just take a minute touch on what is really needs to be done?

So this would this lease gets renewed for 30 years.

What are some of the projects that need to get done for the um on infrastructure?

Um, we need to continually work on the seawall, parking lot, everything related to protecting that piece of land on that side of you know the city's been doing a lot of work on the pump house.

Um, and we now have uh parcel of land next to us, which was a lot of us refer to as the old little Casey's over there.

That has been sold.

Um, I'm understanding there's plans for that to be um dredged out.

I don't know what the intention is.

Some people have said big boat marina or otherwise, but that's something that will affect our infrastructure.

Um, the docks, a good part of the docks need uh replacing and updating.

So there'll be work on that.

There are things on the physical plant as well.

Um, that's just the things that are floating around right now without benefit of uh a strategic plan.

Right.

Um also with the big construction coming up on uh parate park, you know, what we may need to do to accommodate um that change in that corner, even though I know the harbor master will manage it really, really well.

There's um it's all part of the neighborhood.

Okay.

Council Carlton, any questions?

Sure, I don't want to dominate though.

I I do have a number of questions.

I think first of all, it's a great club, it's a great Newport institution.

Congratulations.

The reason I asked for the workshop along with uh was unanimous uh vote by the council to ask for the workshop, but uh my specific thought was the council may know and the administration may know what is contained in both the current lease and the proposed lease, but it's very, very important for the public to know.

We need to be transparent.

We can't vote on, I believe.

Uh, if uh my colleagues and others don't believe we have a uh a disagreement then, but I believe that uh anything that the city does that involves potentially multi-millions of dollars needs to be as transparent as possible.

So I appreciate the council holding this session, and I appreciate the great work that the uh members have done.

And Mark, your presentation was excellent.

I'll start by just asking why a 30-year lease.

Uh typically a 30-year mortgage with a house purchase is tied to that number of years for very specific reasons.

Are you going to a financial institution or a lender and asking for a set amount of money up front?

Are you asking for a line of credit?

Are you asking for uh equity of some sort?

Because essentially it's the cities, although, as I understand it, and please correct me if I'm wrong, it is the membership base and the dues that comes in.

Um by calculation, if you have 575 members at 1300 a year, it's about 750,000 a year in membership.

That is the real figure that a lender wants to see.

How much can you be assured of receiving each year in order to pay back a note?

But the underlying is the city, the residents owning the actual, not the physical plant, but owning uh the property for all intents and purposes.

So having said all of that, and probably said it, I probably said it the wrong way, but am I correct in assuming that you will not be using the city as owner of the property in obtaining any type of of loan?

Yes, that's correct.

The city would not co-sign or be any part of any debt.

A couple other things you mentioned.

First, I want to say we all appreciate the the chance to have a public workshop as well, because as you know, people are having this workshop in in local restaurants and in and everywhere else.

I'd much rather be out here in the public.

I think it's a good thing that we did.

Um we did ask for longer um because our we tried to mirror actually the basis was mirroring this last amendment we were working under, which was 30 years plus three 10-year renewals, those renewals being um more at the club's option.

Um at the negotiating table, it was um it was brought up that that 60 years seemed like um perhaps too long of a period of time.

And it was an open and ended negotiation.

I do believe it still says that by mutual agreement it's possible.

Um but um clearly we we would love to have um more assurance of more time, but we signed the agreement that the city put in front of us uh if the council agrees with it, but certainly more time.

To your point of financing, uh yes, it's it's been I I think the last loan, and I might ask uh one of my colleagues to step up and correct me.

Um the last loan was not for a 30-year term.

I believe it was amortized in 10 years.

Right with that?

It was amortized in a decade.

So the that was done not just through operations, but special assessments of members.

So the we we look at this is something that goes to the entire membership.

We say we're gonna borrow X, it's gonna be able to do Y.

We're proposing a special assessment of Z.

And then if the club at the end of any given year has a little more excess than we forecast, and the loan allows us to, we'll try to pay it off a little earlier to avoid that.

So, Mark, uh please.

And I appreciate that.

We all belong to a number of clubs, I'm sure, or we all uh belong to clubs that need to do at some point some type of borrowing.

But usually when you when you go to the lender, uh the building itself, the club's real estate collateralizes the loan.

In the loan that you just spoke of, how did you collateralize that?

Were you using a bank, as I suggested earlier, one of the reasons might be one of the reasons you you want a longer uh a longer lease with the city is because a bank or a lending institution might uh look at that more favorably and say, okay, we can rely on this source of income for for this many years.

Um what it did did a bank say you could you might want me managing your PowerPoint, but not the financial questions.

I might ask if uh FJ or Morgan or somebody wants to speak to that who's been directly involved.

Was it a leasehold leasehold mortgage?

Yes.

Pass Commodore Tom Rowe.

Yeah, so I I guess you know what I'm what I'm trying to get at here is if you are unable to use or if you do not use, whether you're unable to use it or whatever, if you don't use the property, which the city owns as your collateral, what assurances are you giving to the lender?

Why is the lender giving you um presumably a great deal of money?

Yeah, my name is Tom Rowe.

Um, I was past comment of the awk club uh during COVID.

Uh the city when that lease was was sorry, when that loan was applied for, used the building and future revenue projections as collateral.

That was a 20-year loan that was paid off in 10 years through the efforts of membership.

I'm sorry, forgive my lack of financial understanding.

I still uh can't grasp whether the city was a part of that or whether you're not.

That was done by the Newport Yard Club with Bank Newport directly.

Okay.

So the bank gave you the loan based on whatever qualifications they thought were necessary.

That's correct.

I could just jump in a lot of times with a lease, depending on the length of the lease, they'll do a leasehold mortgage.

So the lease itself is the security.

And the city does not have to be a party to it.

And of course, all of your personal property would be secured by uh a UCC financing uh security interest.

That's I'm sure that's how it went.

Great.

The solicitor answered perfectly what I was interested in knowing the lease itself, followed by presumably 30 years of membership payments is why the bank would give you a loan.

Uh because you have arranged with the city an agreement that you're not going anywhere for 30 years.

So the bank knows we're not kicking you out, and the bank further knows that you've got 575 current members, possibly growth, and they feel comfortable enough to give you a loan at that point.

Um are you back to my other question earlier?

Are you looking for a bank loan or a lender to give you X amount of money now?

Uh in other words, are you going out there to say, here's our plan uh for physical plant and harbor-related uh improvements, we need a half million dollars.

Here's what we're backing it with.

Or do you just want to feel comfortable, which everyone would want, knowing that at any point after the lease is signed, you could go and ask for the money.

Is there something specifically in front of us now, or is this just a good insurance policy?

It's an insurance policy right now, but we're not that far away from uh it's been a bit of the chicken and egg in that the club does do a lot of strategic planning, but we launched this two years ago, and so we have a long list of prospective capital expenditures.

Um those will have to be prioritized both by the board and by members.

Um it's not gonna take very long before those get gelled to a need for capital, but at as of today, right tonight, I can't say here's the three things on the list that we'd be seeking financing for, but what we're a going concern and um I know why you have a capex list.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Under the current agreement, what does the club play uh pay the city per month or per year?

However, per year at as of as of um this year, I believe it's um sixty-four thousand or sixty-five, between sixty-four and sixty-five thousand.

Do we have any information or does the city have any information about uh what not that I or I'm sure anyone else is seeking to do this, but uh what would the open market if a private corporation came in and said, we like this, we'd like to give you X amount per month.

Does anybody have any information uh about what the market would offer for such an opportunity?

To basically have to um purchase a leasehold interest, not a fee interest.

Um I don't know.

I mean, I think what we've it's been the policy of the city up to this point is that based on everything that they presented over the years, this goes back to 1993, that there is you know, financial uh benefits to this and also all those intangibles that have been pointed out that um if you're gonna go with a private developer, it's gonna be I mean, you're not gonna have the public access in all probability uh at that point.

So um I I can't answer that, Mr.

Collin.

We haven't done an actual analysis for that.

Yeah, and I'm not passing judgment at all.

Uh I'm just that the lease was signed 22 years ago approximately, right?

And it was for 65,000 a year.

So it's an escalator sign for less.

The escalator, the CPI escalator every year brings us up to.

That's what got us to today.

Understood.

It'll be something in the neighborhood of I think it's close to 90 by the time this amendment starts between the bump and everything else.

Sure.

Last night we had the uh the mooring insurance and transfer workshop.

One of the questions I asked uh was first I asked how many clubs there were.

I was pretty confident in in that answer ahead of time.

But second, I asked uh how many clubs offer mooring rentals to only their members or to folks who have uh a reciprocal agreement with the club.

Uh two clubs between each other, obviously.

Does noting your your second uh one of your second bullets uh that new to the contract will be a 15% uh um revenue share with the city for transient uh dockage fees.

Uh how much or how often do you as a club does the club rent to non-members?

And those perhaps I don't even know if you have it, but uh perhaps folks with a reciprocal agreement.

Uh let's say the Connecticut, like I said last night, Connecticut Yacht Club with the Newport Yacht Club.

How often do you rent to folks who are not in that category, but simply uh come in for a night, two nights, three nights, what have you, and and transient uh uh dock with you.

It's a great question.

Yes, we we do not have moorings, we have slips right that we rent.

Yeah, those are um listed on Dock Wa, so they are open to um anyone.

Um the I think and um I'm gonna Morgan's gonna think for me because she knows the numbers exactly.

If I recall, I think um we've budgeted in the range different years between 60 and 80,000 dollars of revenue related to non-member transient, and I think that equates to something like 500 stays.

Am I in the ballpark?

Yeah, um, about 75,000 to stay.

So um it's a fairly regular occurrence.

Reciprocity, the club is um is a member of I think it's the American association of yacht clubs and yacht clubs that have members um that belong to clubs.

They the reciprocal privileges at our club are that you can come and present proper ID and proper introduction, um, and you can have a drink in the bar and use the facility.

So it's not like the mooring situation.

So I'll ask three more questions for now because again, I I didn't want to dominate, which I probably already have.

Uh but so that's and this isn't one of the questions, but that would be assuming those numbers be roughly another 7500 for the city, because we have to presume that those are very popular uh alternatives for for folks that come in.

They'd love to uh to take one of the slips for a night, two nights, three nights, what have you?

So about 7500 in additional income for the city.

Um what if if you have 750, and and I don't want you to go into anything that's nobody's business, including mine.

Uh, there are some things I'm sure that club members, uh the executive committee, or however you govern yourself, it they say, well, you know, Dave, I don't want to answer that.

If you don't want to answer it, I'm not holding it against you.

I as I said, think very highly of the club, and I appreciate uh the many great events that you've highlighted here.

But if you have 750,000 roughly in member dues coming in, uh, and and maybe I'm wrong about that.

I'm just looking at the 1300 and I multiplied it by 575 voting members.

So if you have about 750,000 in dues that comes in per year, where's the money going?

What why do you even need to go uh out for capital sources?

Uh in other words, does it can it possibly take more than 750,000 or 750,000 to run the club per year?

Um we we have uh, and again, Morgan, uh I'll have you keep me honest on this, but if you want to Morgan can explain, um, but I'll I'll basically it's um we have that income.

We also have um bar and restaurant income.

There is income.

Um at the end of an average year, um, the club has 180,000 of excess revenue over expenses that can be used to amortize debt, that's used for maintenance, it's used for all the the things that are there.

That is not enough.

Um when you look at all of uh a business for business to maintain a 10% margin, cash reserves, um, that's prudent financial management.

So that's about where it comes.

We do have you know, we have salary expenses, we have maintenance expenses, we pay a lot of taxes, phones, you name the bills.

So we operate about a you know, uh 10% margin, but that also prepares a uh Commodore Roe mentioned um COVID.

Um all of a sudden you go through a period of time where um members leave, no one's uh drinking, no one's eating, um, nobody's drinking.

When does that happen?

Uh never for me, but you know, uh I got for some people.

So I appreciate that, Mark.

And here's one of those questions that might not be any of my business or anybody uh the one I'm about to ask, I'm sorry, because you answered the last one, please uh quite efficiently uh and I appreciate it with with candor.

Um what are your reserves like?

In other words certainly, well, not certainly, but many clubs, many not for profit organizations assuming they don't have a mandate to give all of their uh cash on hand away.

Do you have a a reserve that could be used before you go to a lender to ask for uh cash for the capital improvements that are on the horizon?

Hard that that's a hard question for me to ask because that kind of decision about where would reserves go is really both a board and a membership decision.

There are reserves, but I think if we were presented with we're always going to be presented with those decisions.

There may be things where you say, no, it's this year, this year we have enough excess and we have a hundred thousand dollars and we need to fix the dinghy dock or fill in the blanks.

Um that decision could be taken by the board um and membership because membership has to vote on that disposition.

Um, or we could say we need to hang on to it.

Um I don't know the absolute number, um, and I'm not even quite sure what the proper definition of that would be.

Um do you have a please.

Hi.

Um Morgan Everson, I'm the treasurer.

Um I think it's worth adding.

So we do have a reserve account.

Um, and again, Mark hit on it.

It is has to be voted on by the membership, the board, what it's used for.

Um and one of our reserve funds is strictly an endowment for junior sailing.

Um that one is you know up in the hundred thousands.

Um it's about 140,000.

It's so that junior sailing program can be sort of uh funded in perpetuity to make sure that you know those hundred kids who go through each year um can either have scholarships or that we can buy you know new boats or equipment or things that are needed, which are expensive but may not be covered by those membership dues um that you know mentioned, did the math there.

Um and then we also have, and I know someone's gonna speak to it, but we have a frostbite account for for frostbiting boats um to make sure that each year, again, like when we need to replace that fleet so that that program can continue in perpetuity.

Um those that that money is already accounted for, we don't have to get a loan, and we we've already approved that we've put that money away so that in five years we can go ahead and buy a whole fleet all at once and keep that program going.

Um, which I know I think you know, someone's gonna mention what a benefit it is to the community.

Um so those are parts of the reserves that we hold just so that we can keep these programs going.

Um so we tend to look anywhere from you know five to 20 years ahead to make sure that sailing um is always gonna be prioritized.

Um and then you know, to answer your question, yes, we have a reserve account.

Um it was set up to make sure we you know, pretty much a rainy day fund.

Um, I I'm not sure that you know I would ask for the Commodore's permission to say what the numbers are.

Um, but I I will say it's it's a fund that is definitely set up for um you know something in the extreme that would happen.

It's not necessarily enough to cover you know a lot of the capital improvements that we would go out for money for.

Um so I hope that kind of explains a little bit about what we have in it.

No, I appreciate it.

I what I'm trying to get at here, and again, I I want to look very favorably on this uh because I do look very favorably on the club.

And I want to thank uh by the way, for former mayor Harry Winthrop for uh filling me in on a lot of the questions, uh a lot of questions that I had uh that I'm not asking tonight.

Uh Harry was very helpful to me.

But what I want to be able to do is in the course of an elevator ride, explain to a resident, at least in the third ward, a taxpayer.

Why did I vote for a 30-year lease?

What Dave, what are you giving them a 30-year lease for?

Why why not a 10-year lease, especially when there's eight years left on the lease, making it effectively an 18-year span?

I first of all, I wouldn't be able to stop talking in the course of a elevator ride.

Uh, but but secondly, you understand, I I want to be able to say this is just the obvious reason why they want a 30-year lease, why they need a 30-year lease.

And then while I'm at it, uh last two questions.

Is the city assessing on our own real estate, or are they assessing tangible?

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question.

20,000 in taxes.

Is that still taxes?

That's annual tax.

So does the city of Newport assess property taxes on our own real estate?

Or are we assessing simply on their tangible?

They own the building.

They owned a lot of the fixed goods.

At this point, any they don't know the features that be checked.

Certainly.

But it's a private company that does the assessments.

It's not the city doesn't directly do the assessments, a private company does the assessments, right?

Yeah.

But right, but we don't know, you know what I'm saying.

We don't tax City Hall.

Uh Chris Gabe uh you expell my solicitor being gave a perfect answer.

You own the building.

We're taxing the building, not the land.

Um so the the last question, but I I do want to hear, you know, what I can what I can tell people in that, you know, here's why they want that 30 year uh rather than go with a 10-year lease, for example.

But the last question is um, how many slips do you have?

And how many of those are you know, in other words, uh one of the things that I was told is it's similar to the the list for Newport.

You're gonna wait six generations to actually get a chance uh to to have a slip at uh Newport Yacht Club.

I mean 575 members, presumably not everyone owns uh a boat or a vessel.

Um but help me out on on how many slips you have and we have a what the availability process is.

By the way, if for some reason a slip becomes available, god forbid, uh death or something of that nature.

Uh does the slip go to preference wise?

Does it go to a new porter who is on the list or a non-newporter?

Um hi, I'm Steve Parks.

I'm the float and dock committee chairman at the Newport Yacht Club.

Um, we have about 63 or so uh sliffs that we rent membership, but we also have um five or six or so slips that we reserve for a transient dockish for members as well as non-member transients.

All right.

And uh to answer your question about how long it takes to get a slip, it takes a long time.

Not as long as the city, but it takes a long time.

Um because we only have so many spots, and people tend to stay in the spots just like the Morrins a long time.

Uh is there preference for um members?

The way the assignment slip work, it's based on seniority of membership.

So as you see, we have we're have 50% members right now, and it's a mix of non-members and members.

Um, but and we're continuing to work to have more Newport members, but uh the assignment of the slips is fundamentally based on how long have you been a member of the Newport Yacht Club?

Excellent.

Excellent.

How many slips does the city use?

Be it the fire department or the harbor master or whoever.

Well, we offer space to the harbor master in the inner corner.

Uh and during the off season, they and they also use the pump out dock quite a bit to go um back and forth in the uh for their operations, and then in the off season, they you know that they have a lot more access to it.

So we don't charge the club, doesn't charge the city for that, obviously.

Uh great, thank you.

Mark, I'm sure I'll come up with a good enough reason for that elevator speech.

Don't even worry about that.

I appreciate all the great questions.

I hope you understand why I wanted the workshop and wanted the questions answered.

It's a great club.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

We and we just want to reinforce we we appreciate the diligence that the council has put into this.

That the thing to do is to get it done so we can move forward, right?

Well, it's been 131 years.

We want it to be forward, and this is the process that gets all that cleared up, cleared out, everything on the table.

So thank you.

Thank you.

All right, I'd like to take a time to uh turn it over to the public if there's anybody that would like to come up and say a few words so we don't have to listen to Council Carlin all night long.

But thank you.

And I know there are a lot of members here, the members, even though every one of them would like to speak, they all agreed that if they're just gonna say the club is great, they're not gonna be speaking.

But I know we have a few people that want to say a few things, and there may be another members of the public.

But we'll respect your time.

Thank you.

Anyone want to come up?

Just uh state your name and just keep in mind it is uh three minute time limit.

Yes, sir.

Oh, my name is Dan O'Brien, 19 Aborne Street.

I've been a member of the Yacht Club until recently for 30 years.

I was expelled due to an incident that happened in the parking lot where I was attacked by a vendor, broke two of my ribs.

Uh the and I was held on charges of failure to control my um my guest.

Okay, I was at the grill making dinner for my wife and I, and this gentleman came up and broke two of my ribs.

And um, I called the police, and that's how come I got expelled because this board and this flag doesn't protect the members.

They and you ask where the money's gone, the money is gone because of years of poor management.

Now we have a great manager, they do.

I don't, I'm out.

Took 30 years to get a great slip at the club, all gone now.

Um, but that management has turned around.

We have a new manager came in in the in the spring, but let's be honest, this club is hamrhaging money, hemorrhaging money.

They have been running close to the line for years.

Why?

Due to poor management.

Everybody knows it.

You guys know it.

So I don't think the new manager's gonna who spent the last eight, nine months undoing everything the last manager or everyone knows I did not get along with the last manager.

He was a bully, but the new manager is great.

Where do I get the term hemorrhaging money?

From our new manager, they're two manager, not mine.

She told me that when she first started, and again, she's been trying to undo everything the last managers done for years and years.

I watched it happening, he was a bully.

I stood up to him.

That didn't go very well for me.

So I'm I'm here to say this is unsustainable.

This piece of property should be given back to the people of Newport, where it should be a municipal marina, and that's the best use of the property.

Unsustainable.

Yeah, I I can't see it possibly changing because uh and they also recently had a salmonila outbreak.

Didn't didn't let the members know.

That's what I heard.

And one of the one of the dock members, awesome.

That's what I heard from a member who's from a from an employee who's no longer at what he got fired as well.

But uh that's what I heard.

I I could be wrong, but uh either way, uh the city wasn't I mean the state wasn't notified, the members weren't notified that people got sick due to Salmonilla.

And maybe you folks don't know about it, but it happened, according to an employee that worked at the club.

Um, so you might look at me as a uh you know disgruntled former member.

Well, I certainly am.

I spent 30 years at that club paying for that dock that he was talking about, a million dollars.

I finally got a slip, talk about seniority, and they took it away from me.

Why?

Because I called the police, and and and they and I if this got back to me because I called the police, it drew attention to the fact that they're right in the middle of this, renewing their lease.

So they weren't looking out for me, they weren't looking out for my wife.

I was in the park lot, the guy was going back to our boat.

I called the police to protect my wife, and I get and I get expelled from the club.

That's what happened.

I'm here to tell you my story.

Thank you, Mr.

O'Brien.

Anyone else?

Uh my name's Hank Niskern at 41K Street.

And uh I just want to bring up a couple things that um I I was on the waterfront commission for 10 years and did the very first harbor management plan, and the one that came out just now is is really better.

And also I was involved in uh when we established the armory as the maritime center.

And all we worked a lot and very closely with um URI and the Coastal Resource and Project Center and did a lot of studies about harbors, not only in the harbor in Newport and public access in Newport, but also harbors along the East Coast and in the vicinity as well as as well as around the country.

And one of the things, and with these studies shows that it's important if you have a harbor and you have a strategic asset of like we do here of boats and people who know how to manage boats, like I'll never forget the time when the Volvo race is here.

We say we love coming to Newport because if you have a problem, there are experts here that can fix it like no other harbor.

So what that's but you require an infrastructure that allows that to happen, which is in the uh last comprehensive land use plan, they talked about you know how do you put the how do you develop the the waterfront?

And they said and the best best practices showed you need to have a couple of reserve spots, parcels that are for water dependent usage.

In other words, it is um like a hotel or a condo or a timeshare is not a water dependent you should put those anywhere, but they're for marinas or or or just facilities that help service boats where people can you know uh maintenance people so forth can go out and get things fixed and repaired on emergency basis or just for maintenance is really quite critical.

It also maintains the nature of the harbor.

And uh so in the harbor in the last uh land use plan that actually designated all that stuff, they were good.

Um, but we didn't really reserve much space for land use or water dependent usage.

So, in working with other cities and so forth, what is important here, I think, in terms of the the topic at hand is that we're ending up as more and more boats but less and less facilities, except for you know big boats in the harbor.

So I think any place that has uh you know, like for winter storage and this mentioned we have the the wave attenuating docks, there's there's three.

There's one at Fort Adams, there's one at the Newport Shipyard, and one at the yacht club.

And this allows for winter storage.

It's getting harder and harder and harder for voters to to have these kind of facilities.

Is that three minutes?

Yes.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, Mayor Holder, Vice Chair, Saley, members of the council.

My name's Pam Grant.

I live at 2641 Avenue in the Fifth Ward.

I am a native Newporter and a registered voter.

And I would like to share some personal reflections of the history of the Newport Yacht Club with you.

For me and for many others, the history of the club is about family and community.

My dad joined the club in 1932, and he was the Commodore in 1940 and 42.

My adult membership, I was a kid hanging around, started in 1970.

In 1993, I had the honor of being elected the first female commodore, and served as the Commodore during the 100th anniversary.

In the spring of 1950, my dad and some fellow members started the first class in boating, which was the prelude to our current sailing program, which is open to the community and to other people who are not members.

In the early 80s, I chaired the junior program.

At that time, we had over 100 sailors in the program each summer.

The program is still enrolling over 100 campers per season.

One can safely say that not hundreds, but thousands of children in Newport County and Newport have learned to sail and be on the water because of the club's sailing program, including myself, my children, and many of my lifelong friends, some of them which are behind me.

The club, and they took sailing lessons too.

The club has a history that's woven with the history of Newport.

In the late 50s, the club officials approached the city, and this is a quote to request space for its clubhouse to build a marina at City Yard.

This request was driven by a desire to relocate from sitting on pilings in the northeast corner of Newport Harbor, which is now Praddy Park, to land and higher ground.

At that location, the hurricane of 1938, the great storm of 1944, and Hurricane Carroll in 54 were less than kind to the club and our docks.

This is a quote from a councilman in response to the club's request about the move to City Hall.

It is heartening to see the efforts coming from a private group to give new life to yachting activities in Newport Harbor.

And this is something that the club and its members continue doing today.

The club also invites people from the community who are not members to join in winter frostbite racing, summer weeknight racing, and other events opened to the community.

The proposed agreement will allow us to continue our long history with the city of family service and local tradition for generations to come.

Thank you.

With your permission, I would like to give each of you a copy of the history of the club, which was written for our 125th anniversary.

And it was laid out and designed by Past Commodore Roe and his wife and their committee.

And they worked with the Rogers High School Graphics Department to lay it out.

So with your permission, I'd like to put it here on the Yeah, you can bring it up.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Presents.

Council members, Commodore Vice.

My name is Sharon McGuinness.

I'm a resident of Newport County, voting member of Newport Yacht Club, and board member of Gold Star Sailing Newport team.

I'm here today to provide supporting comments in regard to the renewal of the lease agreement with the town of Newport and Newport Yacht Club.

This is important for a variety of reasons, most notably being the preservation of the legacy and tradition of sailing and access to Newport Harbor.

What is legacy?

Legacy is something passed down from an ancestor or predecessor, which can be a gift by will, a lasting impact from one's life, or a hand-me-down tradition.

Collectively, this is priceless and timeless.

For the past 10 years, Newport Yacht Club has been the host of Gold Star Sailing.

Each year we sponsor 20 teenagers from across the United States and the UK for a week in Newport to learn how to sail at zero cost to them.

They get to experience the magic Newport has to offer.

We include big boat sailing with our captains from Newport Yacht Club.

They learn how to sail the little boats at Sail Newport.

They tour the Newport mansions.

They uh stay at Salve Regina University.

They attend the Gulls baseball game.

So much fun.

And then with fellowship and support, we also work with the Rhode Island National Guard, where they learn how to repel.

And we visit with the Coast Guard Station Castle Hill Guys, as well as Newport VFW post-406.

And that's just to name a few.

This program does not simply provide a week of activities.

It builds a lasting support system, a network of friendships, and a profound sense of belonging.

No one, none of this would be possible without the dedication of people like Colonel Patrick Powers and the generous supporters who ensure that the camp continues to thrive.

For me and for more than 200 gold star kids who have passed through this program.

It is a place of healing, connection, and transformation.

It has shown me that sailing is more than just a sport.

It's a journey that shapes lives, including my own.

Close quote.

And that is through ensuring the ongoing symbiotic relationship of our yacht club and the town of Newport.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

And Sharon, thank you so much for all the work you do with the Gold Star Sailing.

I had the uh opportunity to speak to the kids uh this past summer, and it was uh it was uh definitely a highlight uh of me being on the council, and it was amazing the the just the attitude and the energy those kids had and what they did it was so much fun.

So look forward to next year too.

Absolutely, Mr.

Chairman, Council Crown.

I just have a general question for every for a stupid non-voter like myself.

When I see the flag when I visit the club and I see the American flag, I see the Rhode Island flag, then there's a flag that is flown above the American flag.

Why is that?

You you understand what I mean, right?

You folks understand what I'm talking about.

Why does any flag fly fly above uh the United States of America's flag?

Um on our flagpole.

Well, first to answer your first question.

That is the yacht club's Purgey.

That is our yacht club Bergy.

I'm wearing my mom's bent with the birchie on it tonight.

Uh she and my dad are with me.

Um that flagpole has a gaff.

And the place of honor for the American flag on a flagpole is on the gaff if there is one.

So the burgee's not really flying above because the American flag is on the gaff in its place of honor, and that's the way that's done.

Good enough.

Excellent.

And about anything you say, Pam is going to be good enough for me.

And often what happens is most people don't know when they're asked to lower the American flag to half staff.

It's really not half staff.

It's about three quarters.

Well, it's about a quarter down.

So it's flying at half-staff.

So if it's on the gap, it would just be down a little bit, not a lot.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you.

But Council Palatano.

Yes.

Um I when I first came on council, that was your first contract.

I can tell you for the first six months, all I did was vote.

I didn't make comments, anything like that.

And everybody was ready to vote on the contract, and me and another counselor.

I said, you know, Mr.

Mayor, could could we have a little bit more time?

I really don't understand this.

You would have thought EF Hutton spoke in the room.

It was dead quiet.

And then I heard this woman say, she talks.

However, I was convinced they were going to do everything they said they were going to do, and they did.

And then some.

Uh I've been so impressed over the years.

They had to go out and I believe borrow like 850,000 for bulkhead and some other priorities.

Um, and then they paid it off 10 years early.

So and I know it was the members in the club that put up money.

I realize that.

And it's because they all feel like they're part of this community.

And I can tell you, I've done the gold star several times.

What a wonderful program.

I've had kids do the sailing down there.

Uh, grandkids do the sailing down there.

I have been so impressed with the number of activities that the Newport Yacht Club is involved in, include including like the Waterfront Commission and the resiliency efforts and all of this.

That there is no doubt in my mind that you had the right thrust, the right direction to move forward.

And I fully support this.

And I think it's an asset that the city of Newport needs, and the people of Newport need.

You can go to all the lotti dogs, but Newport Yacht Club is Newport Yacht Club, you know, and you know you're gonna meet people from the next street or maybe down at this ward.

You know, you just know it, and everybody's friends.

So I fully intend to support this effort.

I think it's it's a great direction to move in.

Yes, thank you.

Um I'm also going to I'm also going to support this.

Um, and I just um I think one of the things that has been overlooked, which I realized when my son took sailing lessons down there several years ago, is it's it's a location is so convenient for people who live in the in the middle of the the middle and north end of the city.

I you know, I was so grateful, and I know Sail Newport has a great, you know, has a great program, but I was so grateful that my son could just ride his bike to sailing lessons and then so I think that your location it really is a um uh it's a benefit to to everyone and uh I I appreciate that.

So of course I'm gonna support this as well.

I think that your value to the community is is I mean, we really can't say what it is.

It's it's it's it's immense.

So thank you very much.

Council Smith.

Um, I just wanted to thank all of you for attending the workshop tonight.

Mark, thank you for the presentation and to the yacht club members.

Thank you for all that you do for the especially the community engagement portion of things.

Um, that's invaluable to us.

I I do plan on also supporting this, um, but I do have a quick question for the city solicitor.

If, say once the lease is renewed, we are 25 years into it, and the club no longer has the membership that they have today, and they are not able to fulfill the lease agreement.

What happens to the property, especially the portion that the the city owns?

The well, in such a case that that's there could be a default under the lease where the city could come in and repossess its land.

Um, in this particular case, it's I mean, leasehold um leasing like this is not it's not it's more unique, but it it is out there.

Um so in that particular case, the we would probably take the position that everything on the property is a fixture that is attached, and if it was removed, could cause a disturbance or material disturbance.

So we would probably take that position, or I mean, conceivably the yacht club could say we have a place to move that building.

Um I think it's probably more likely if they fell into that type of trouble, they wouldn't have the wherewithal to uh uh do anything with any kind of fixtures.

So I think a lot of that ends up being a fixture to the property part of the real property that the land itself.

Okay, thank you.

Um any further comments from the audience.

Al has some letters from the youth program, but I know you're you're doing this three nights in in a row, and um just will thank Al.

He's been heading up our uh youth sailing camp, and he has some very nice letters from families, and we can email those to you if you if you'd care to read them.

Um but it's late, and we appreciate your comments.

I think it like we said, very important that we did this.

No one in this club feels entitled to this land or entitled to this.

We gotta earn it.

We're glad that we've been earning it for a while, and we'll continue to do so.

Um I I hope any counselor, any citizen, anyone that has questions, um, doors are open, phones are answered.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh I'd actually like to hear a letter if you don't mind.

Thank you.

My name's Albert Scambardo, and I'm the chairperson for the uh junior sailing program this past year.

Just make sure you speak on the microphone.

Speaker.

Let me try that again.

My name's Al Scambato.

I'm the chairperson for the junior sailing program this past year.

And um it was a great experience for me.

And um I have three letters that uh parents had sent to us that were scholarship students.

Hope I get this out.

Uh I'm writing as a parent that has received the scholarship.

Um for my son to attend the junior sailing program at the Newport Yacht Club, and they have for the past three years.

It is my hope that the city of Newport can recognize the importance of this program and club and renew the land lease.

Without the scholarship, my son would not have been able to have the experiences that he has had there.

It has been my mission to provide my son with a different life.

To be able to experience, learn, and grow despite our circumstances.

Learning about boats, learning in community, being with friends, and making memories that he will carry into his life.

Living in Newport is a gift.

And part of that is the sailing community.

It's important my son learns the layer of the land and the water.

And he has been able to do so because of this program.

I cannot express enough gratitude for this camp.

Because of the club's program.

He has been able to talk about boats, how the opties are different, what he looks forward to.

Every day of camp, he got into the car, and was met with the barrage of the day's events, the routines, the celebrations, the downfalls.

There was one day he capsized LOL.

And that's part of sailing.

He continued to show up, and this program has inspired him, taught him.

He was always lit up with the adventures of the day.

And that is the best gift in establishing a grounded human being in our community.

Newport resident.

So I am very happy to have my three children have that same passion that I did at that age.

At this stage in our life, I don't believe I could have given them this opportunity without the very generous help from the Newport Yacht Club scholarship program.

Thanks to their support of this program, my kids are able to pursue their passion for sailing.

That was from parents.

One last one.

Also emphasized water and boating safety while making sure the kids had plenty of fun and memorable, memorable events.

The scholarships made it possible for my child to participate fully, and we're so grateful for the for the generosity and care that went into creating such a meaningful competence building experience.

Those are the three that I had experienced.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

All right, any other uh comments from the public?

No.

That's the case, then uh we'll wrap this up tonight.

Uh appreciate everyone's time.

Uh appreciate uh Mark for your the presentation, and uh we look forward to seeing you at the meeting when we vote on the renewal of the lease.

Enjoy the rest of the night.

Thank you.