"The town should encourage the new owners of 'Thames Landing' to improve their dilapidated marina. While the Town operates its own transient dockage, there is no denying the Thames Landing dockage is the more heavily used in town among transient boaters."”

Angus Davis

Supporters of a new Bristol Marina, which would add 110 boat slips downtown, are aggressively campaigning the Bristol Town Council to approve the project.

There are currently 93 residents on the waiting list for a dock space. On their behalf, Vasco "Skip" Castro III, former conservation commission chairman, and Patrick "Pat" McCarthy, a member of the economic development commission and harbor commission advisory committee, are leading the charge to build the new marina.

"This is the right thing to do. We really need to invest some money into the town. The payback is good for the downtown area." Mr. Castro said..

If the marina is approved and completed, both men will secure slips there. Mr. Castro, #5 on the list, has been waiting for a slip for his 28-foot boat since Feb. 8, 2010. Mr. McCarthy, #26 on the list, has been waiting since Dec. 30, 2011 for a slip to hold his 23-foot vessel. The person who has waited the longest is Angus Davis, #1 on the list and first to receive the next available slip for his 34-foot power boat. Mr. Davis applied for the slip in 2006.

The Bristol Economic Development Commission and the Bristol Harbor Commission support the marina project, which has been floating around since 1982.

"The expansion of the marina behind Robin Rug is nothing new," said Bristol Town Administrator Antonio "Tony" A. Teixeira.

"I've always been on board with the expansion of the marina. We do have a waiting list of folks who are waiting. Some patiently, others not so patiently. Some of them have moorings but would rather have a dock."

The town awarded a bid to the Pare Corporation to study the cost of the project, which should be ready in two months. Marina supporters were scheduled to make their pitch to the council at last night's council meeting (after The Phoenix print deadline).

"The full support they need is there. They were entertained by the council and myself on February 3. We met and we were in synch," Mr. Teixeira said

He would not speculate on the project's cost, but some have put it between one and two million dollars. Mr. Teixeira said it would likely take five years for the town to recover the cost. The town would likely pay for it with a combination of available bond money and additional bonding in November.

If approved, the Bristol Marina would become another multimillion dollar waterfront project in a town where owners of epic mansions share the same zip code with people who rely on food stamps and soup kitchens to survive. Section 8 housing openings in town draw lines out the door, and most homeowners here spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

The town is currently behind schedule on the construction of the Bristol Maritime Center in the former armory building on Thames Street. Town Treasurer Julie Goucher said the project is still on budget, however, to the tune of $1,754,000. Most of that will be paid by Bristol Taxpayers. Like the proposed Bristol Marina, the Bristol Maritime Center project has its cheerleaders and skeptics. In the case of the marina, Town Councilman Halsey Herreshoff is among the skeptics. He told The Phoenix last week that the need for more slips is as real as the need to spend wisely.

Mr. Davis, who was born and raised on Hope Street, has apparently used his long wait for a slip to ponder the economic health of Bristol's waterfront. It's not simply about adding more slips, he said, but pricing them properly.

"In the past, the town did not price its dockage competitively, charging significantly less than equivalent dockage available in Portsmouth or Barrington," he said.

"I know the new harbormaster was looking

into this a couple years ago. We should keep the Town's rates competitive with those charged by folks like New England Boatworks in Portsmouth or Stanley's Marina in Barrington."

Mr. Davis described Bristol's waterfront as an underutilized economic driver. He supports a boardwalk expansion from the East Bay Bike Path to the Coast Guard Station, low cost commercial fishing docks for residents in the marine trade along with fair market value prices for the pleasure boat crowd.

Finally, Mr, Davis doesn't believe the town should shoulder the burden alone.

"The town should encourage the new owners of "Thames Landing" to improve their dilapidated marina. While the Town operates its own transient dockage, there is no denying  the Thames Landing dockage is the more heavily used in town among transient boaters," he said.

"The Town should ask the new owners of the Thames Landing marina about their plans to expand it,

and understand how the Town could help to encourage this through public-private partnership."