This Tuesday, June 24th, 2003, the Broward County Commission will be discussing whether the Dry Marina lease in Port Everglades should be extended after it expires in February 2004. 

Due to the extreme shortage of slips and dry storage for boats in the South Florida area, the Marine Industries Association of Florida (MIASF) is urging boaters to appear at the meeting to show support for an extension of the Dry Marina lease for its facility at Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Additionally, as a compromise plan, items 47A and 47B of the agenda are being considered for approval as follows:

47A. To reject letters of interest (LOIs) that were originally sought to develop a mega yacht facility on 27 acres of Port property in accord with the attached plan on the southeastern boundary of the Port;

47B.  To appoint a Selection/Negotiation Committee to develop a revised LOI to seek proposals from a qualified firm to operate a dry stack facility comparable to Dry Marina.

The objective of the revised compromise plan is to allow Dry Marina to have the full opportunity to submit a proposal to relocate to this site.  If approved, the 27-acre site would be reduced in size to approximately 5 acres with the mega yacht facility being totally eliminated from the original plan.

We strongly urge you to attend this meeting to speak in support of the MIASF’s position as we are opposed to reducing the 27-acre site at this time. The preferable alternative would be to extend the Dry Marina lease for the property where they presently operate.

While the County Commission meeting begins at 10:00am, our items are not expected to be discussed before 11:00am. The County Commission Chambers are located at the Broward County Government Center, 115 South Andrews Avenue, 4^th Floor. Again, we encourage you to attend.

Should you need any additional information, please Frank Herhold or Martha Lord of MIASF at 954-524-2733.