Archive: News

With blowing snow and sub-zero temperatures you wouldn't think now is the time to be thinking about a marina.  But that is exactly what Lansing town officials are doing now to prepare for the boating season this spring.  Construction on a new retaining wall, docks, and slips for the Lansing Town Marina at Myers Park is in full swing, with town Highway Department employees doing most of the work, saving the Town about half the cost of the project.

"The construction project should be in good shape by spring," says Park Superintendent Steve Colt.  "The next phase is to bring in some blacktop to cover up all those places that have been chewed up and dug up.  That will start to bring this place back to normal.  It will look good and it will be functional.  We're looking forward to getting all this done and getting into the boating season."

Work on the bulkhead retaining wall between land and water began last year, and was continued once the boating season finished last summer.  The old wall was made of sheet steel that was bowing, rotting and rusted out.  With the water at a low point, Highway Department workers are trenching behind the old wall, then inserting the new wall material, a corrugated heavy duty poly (plastic) product.  Once that is in place the old steel wall is removed.

Colt says that makes getting a permit much easier, because the DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers are concerned about stirring things up in the lake water which could impact the environment and lake water life.  By inserting the new wall behind the old, construction isn't actually done in the water.


The project includes replacing the north retaining wall, the east wall, and the wall near the transit dock area.  New docks have been prefabricated at the highway department, then brought to the park on a flat bed truck.  They will be installed in the marina when the retaining wall is completed.  Electric and water services are also being upgraded.

"The highway department did most of the renovation and new construction," Colt says.  "It's a huge deal for us.  It's probably saved a minimum of 50% of what it would have cost in materials and labor if we'd contracted it out.  And they're doing a great job."

That will pay off in Spring as boaters move into the renovated space.  By replacing overly wide docks with more standard widths the Town is reclaiming enough space to add three or four slips, bringing the total to 77.

Lansing holds a lottery every three years to determine whose boats will be considered first for a spot in the marina.  Earlier this year 80 applicants entered into the lottery to try to get one of those spots.  The lottery determines the order of consideration and does not guarantee a spot in the marina.  That final determination is made as slips that accommodate boats of different sizes are filled.  While Colt hopes to fill all 77 slots, he says doing so will depend on how many boats fit into available slips.  He is optimistic that most slips will be filled for the season.

"You rely on the dimensions that people give you and you hope they're right for our sake and theirs," he says.  "On top of that you're dealing with a marina with new dimensions between the docks.  It will be interesting this spring to see if everybody fits into the spaces we hope they'll fit into.  If they do we'll be in good shape."

Slips are rented by local boaters, a lot of people from the Binghamton area, and some from as far as Pennsylvania.  The Town is constrained from discriminating between residents and others in the lottery itself because of the terms of federal funding that was used when Myers Park was originally built.  But once Lansing residents get a spot in the lottery the marina is a good deal for them.

Colt says that residents get a healthy discount.  Non-residents pay what Colt says is at market value.  Slips range between $1,260 (for a minimum of a 19 foot boat) and $798 for non-residents, or $42 per foot (the length of the boat) for the season.  Non residents pay between $608 and $960, or $32 per foot.  Electrical service costs an additional $200.


Colt notes that aside from renovations to the marina there have been significant updates to Myers Park including the new playground, the installation of a historical log cabin, work on the park entrance, among other things.  This year prices were adjusted to put non-resident fees in line with market value slip rental on the lake.

"That's fair," he says.  "That's all you can ask.  I think for years we were really undervalued, so this year we tried to bring our prices more in line with the market, and also with what's going on down in the park.  We've got major renovations in the marina the last two years in a row and maybe more next year.  You've got upgrades all over the park, so I think it's very fair and it's time."

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