PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Panama City commissioners voted 3–2 on Monday to finance the downtown marina redevelopment themselves using a $150 million recovery loan, rejecting a partnership proposal from City Marina Partners.
The decision followed a review of Term Sheet 6, a long-term agreement proposed by CMP that would have delivered 50 wet slips to the city at no labor cost. In exchange, the company would have become a partner with the city and taken control of a portion of the marina uplands.
After debating financial options, commissioners voted 2–3 against the CMP proposal, then approved self-financing in a 3–2 vote.
Commissioner Josh Street supported using the city’s existing recovery loan, saying it does not create new financial obligations.
“This is no additional debt to the city. So let’s be very clear with that. This is debt that the city has already encumbered. We have already budgeted that interest expense in this years budget. It has no effect on our general fund and has no effect on anything currently and it allows us to go through a process in which we can garner public input and look at what other funding mechanisms could be on the table long term,” Street said.
Commissioner Brian Grainger opposed the move, saying it sacrifices a cost-saving option.
“What you saw tonight, which I voted against was that the city decided to put the 50 slips on a credit card. In doing so we lost the ability to have a contractor build the slips for us at cost. So at this point we are putting it on a credit card without knowing exactly how we are going to pay for it in the future. So that’s a future problem that we are going to have to solve,” Grainger said.
The 50 wet slips will now go out to bid, and the city plans to host a series of charrettes to gather public input on the uplands portion of the project.
The $150 million recovery loan is allocated for multiple post-storm recovery efforts, including the MLK Recreation Center and other infrastructure improvements. Commissioners said the loan gives the city flexibility to move forward on the marina while exploring additional funding options.
The downtown marina redevelopment has been under discussion for months as the city works to rebuild the waterfront.
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