The ace is now in his back pocket, but developer Simon Fuller said yesterday he is still open to suggestions about a controversial marina redesign plan.

“We’re trying to achieve a compromise here,” Fuller, the developer of Tall Ships Landing and the Maritime Discovery Centre of the Thousand Islands (MDC), told QMI Agency ahead of another meeting between the city and residents of the Boardwalk condominium.

Although the deadline for a compromise marina design plan more to the Boardwalk’s liking has now passed, the parties were set to hold another meeting on the subject today.
Brockville Mayor David Henderson, however, said the prospects did not look good for an agreement.

“I’m not seeing much flexibility anywhere,” said Henderson.

At a crucial Jan. 12 meeting, city councillors first defeated, then revived the marina redesign plan known as Option A.

The plan would replace docks south of the Boardwalk condominium now used by the Tunnel Bay Boat Club with a floating dock for visitors to the MDC, with the Boardwalk group’s docks relocated to the east side of the building.

The Jan. 12 vote — which actually happened in the early hours of Jan. 13 — made Option A the fallback design plan for the harbour in the overall MDC agreement, should all sides not come up with a more agreeable plan by February 26.

Option A is the product of lengthy negotiations between the different stakeholders in the harbour, with the Boardwalk group remaining the only holdout.

Boardwalk residents and businesses argue putting the floating dock in what is essentially their front yard violates their property rights. They have threatened legal action over the plan.

Members of the Boardwalk group declined to comment on the matter ahead of today’s meeting.

Fuller said that, in theory, he can now “speed ahead” with Option A, but stressed that, as a harbour property owner himself, he is interested in respecting property rights.

On a more practical level, Fuller and his company now have a bit more time on their hands.

The developer needs to get a site plan agreement for the “Captain’s Walk” portion of the MDC, followed by sheet piling work, said Fuller.

He explained the latter process as the driving of corrugated sections

of steel plate into the bedrock below the riverbed. The goal is to separate remediated from unremediated soil, as well as to create a harbour wall.

However, the company is not allowed to work in the river between March 15 and July 15, because of federal rules protecting fish spawning, said Fuller.

The protracted negotiations over the marina plan, which is directly related to the sheet piling work, are one reason the work will now have to be done in midsummer, he said.

As a result, a dozen to 15 boat slips in the Tunnel Bay Marina will be temporarily unusable at that time.

“Our hope was to be able to do the sheet piling work this winter,” said Fuller.

“We now have no choice but to do it in this timeframe.”

Should there still be a willingness to talk about other options after the meeting, said Fuller, the parties will have to call in other stakeholders who are interested in the discussion, such as the Downtown Brockville Business Improvement Area (DBIA) and 1000 Islands and Seaway Cruises.

“If it goes any further than the meeting tomorrow, it’s because there’s some willingness to look at something other than the status quo,” said Fuller.

Since February 26, Option A is the status quo, removing a default option in the original MDC deal that would have seen the Fuller family tall ship, the Fair Jeanne, moored in a tight spot in the harbour entrance.

Rewriting the harbour redesign agreement is one of many details that must be tended to following council’s adoption Jan. 12 of the MDC partnership agreement.

Henderson said there has been talk of compromise in Tunnel Bay, but, “unless somebody’s willing to give a little more, on either side,” a consensus on the harbour is unlikely.

The mayor said there is no point in worrying about a potential lawsuit from the Boardwalk group, since council made its decision in January based on advice from city solicitor John Simpson suggesting the city is on solid legal ground.

“Clearly, we decided it by a vote,” said Henderson. “It is what it is.”