City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of an Amendment to the Water Taxi License Agreement Between the City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverboat Company.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: City Council consideration of an amendment to the Water Taxi License Agreement between the City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverboat Company.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Receive this report recommending an amendment to the Water Taxi License Agreement between the City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverboat Company; and
2. Schedule a public hearing for Saturday, September 16, 2017, and after the public hearing is concluded authorize the City Manager to amend the Water Taxi License Agreement between the City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverboat Company.
BACKGROUND: The current License Agreement between the Potomac Riverboat Company, LLC (PRC) and the City of Alexandria was authorized to allow the PRC to operate three water taxi vessels, the “Commander Jacques,” “Lady Josephine,” or “Miss Sophie,” from the City Marina, with the permanent docking of one vessel overnight. The current agreement allows the City Manager to add additional routes through a request in writing from PRC (such as to the Nationals Park baseball stadium), but is limited to using the three vessels named above. For the PRC to add an additional vessel, the license will need an amendment (Attachment 1).
DISCUSSION: The PRC and the City of Alexandria wish to amend the current License Agreement (Attachment 2) to allow the PRC to operate one additional vessel, “Potomac Taxi”, to allow for the addition of Water Taxi Service pursuant to Section 7.e. beginning October 1, 2017 and ending December 31, 2017 between Old Town Alexandria and The Wharf, a major new development in Washington, DC. PRC’s licenses expire at the end of December, and the City rebid the licenses and will be bringing license recommendations to City Council in the coming months.
The new service would not add additional overnight docking vessels in the City Marina and would increase the use of the water taxi dock by one vessel each hour. PRC would coordinate water taxi schedules so that there is only one water taxi at the City dock and the PRC would continue to work closely with parking vendors in Old Town and offer incentives to encourage parking garage use. Water taxi use is prohibited before 9:30 a.m. to prevent the use of this service for commuting purposes.
The Waterfront Commission endorsed the addition of this water taxi service at its June 20, 2017 meeting (Attachment 3). The new service would increase visitors arriving from Washington, DC via The Wharf to the City of Alexandria providing a potential boost to the retail and restaurant community consistent with the Waterfront Plan. It also would provide a water taxi option for those in Alexandria to go to The Wharf in Washington, D.C.
FISCAL IMPACT: The PRC will be assessed a monthly fee of $285 per month, $855 total per month, for the license rights to add one additional vessel to provide the new water taxi service. This is the current per water taxi boat licensing rate.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Proposed Amendment to Current License Agreement
2. Current License Agreement City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverboat Company
3. Waterfront Commission Endorsement
4. Proposed New Water Taxi
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
James Spengler, Director, Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities
Jack Browand, Division Chief, Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities
Karen Snow, Assistant City Attorney