The owner of the Picton Marina wants to make it a world class facility, but he wants a public-private partnership in order to do so.
CJ Thompson spoke to Prince Edward County council during their regular council meeting on Tuesday night and says he wants to revitalize this key asset in the municipality.
He would like to get proper docking installed in time for the boating season, as well as have a haul-out, something he deemed a necessity.
Councillor Stewart Bailey was concerned about the size of boats coming into Prince Edward County, especially when the town’s water intake is located right where boats would be coming in and out.
Councillor Janice Maynard felt it wasn’t the right time to be asking staff to take on this report with budget only a few short months away.
Councillor Phil St-Jean said they need to start somewhere and they should at least have the conversation with Thompson to see if the public-private partnership would work.
Council approved a motion to have staff come back with a report about options for county-owned marina properties.
Mayor Steve Ferguson says the public-private partnership opens up new ideas.
He said council doesn’t lose anything by getting staff involved and they at least will be getting more information.
No firm timeline for the report was given but staff estimated a report could come forward early in the new year.
This would not be the first public-private partnership the County is a part of. The EORN cell project is a public-private partnership, as well as the Picton Town Hall.
