The city of Langley has offered to sell the Langley marina to the Port of South Whidbey.

The buy-out offer came in a letter sent to the port Sept. 28. The city did not include its asking price in the letter.

“With this letter, I am inviting the Port of South Whidbey to enter into a dialogue with the city of Langley, the objective of which is to transfer all city-owned harbor improvements and related uplands from the city to the port,” Mayor Colburn wrote in a letter to the port.

The offer comes amid a long-running turf squabble over renovations to the small boat harbor.

Back-and-forth bickering over the marina upgrade between the city and the port has stretched on for months, and has been highlighted by concerns over details of the marina makeover and the port’s financial contribution to the improvement project.

The port had set aside $152,100 to match a grant given to Langley by the state Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation for renovations to the boat ramp, pier and Phil Simon Park, plus better parking and restrooms, landscaping, picnic tables and a boardwalk. Including private donations, there is $337,000 available to complete the work.

City officials did not immediately return calls to The Record for comment on the sale offer.

In the letter, Colburn said it made sense for the port to own the marina.

“In the spirit of looking forward not back this invitation is intended to realize what I’ve come to believe is the best possible outcome for the city and for the community: that the port should own the marina and uplands so that its considerable financial resources can be made available to improve, expand and maintain this valuable resource,” Colburn added.

“The city of Langley simply does not have the financial or human capacity to operate the facility in a way that will optimize the benefits to the community, Langley merchants and boat owners,” he wrote.

The deal would include the sale of all of the city’s assets at the marina, including Department of Natural Resources leases, infrastructure and the developed uplands area.

The deal has no price tag attached yet. In the city’s letter, Colburn said the city was willing to consider a sale without having the property appraised.

“As we’ve discussed in the past, the city cannot simply give these assets to the Port. A reasonable exchange of value must be demonstrated that will satisfy the state auditor,” Colburn wrote to the commissioners.

“Our objective is to determine a value for the city’s assets that the port will pay to the city over a period of time to be determined. Under the circumstances, this will necessarily be a subjective valuation because we know that a marina of this kind might not receive permits today if we were proposing a new facility,” he wrote.

One of the issues between the city and the port have been disagreements about ownership responsibilities, funding and disbursement of funds for improvement projects.

The city also said it hoped the sale could be wrapped up by next year.

“Notably, we are prepared to work with the port to accomplish the full transfer of ownership in the shortest possible timeframe so that the port can be well-prepared for operations in advance of next summer’s boating season,” Colburn wrote.

Port commissioner Rolf Seitle said he was not opposed to the port’s purchase of the property. But a deal depends on the price tag.

“I think we could really run this successfully. I just don’t know about how much money,” Seitle said.

In July, the city had finally come up with a scaled-down final draft of the design for the marina makeover.

Construction is expected to begin in January, maybe sooner, said planning consultant Donna Keeler.

City or port officials could not confirm if a sale would affect the improvement project or its timeline.

At a special port meeting Friday, commissioners said the sale of Langley’s marina will be discussed more thoroughly at the port’s next regular meeting on Oct. 13.

“We need to get more public input and information before we can really evaluate the idea,” said commission president Lynae Slinden.

“Do people want us to do this? It’s not a bad idea but we need to take it in stride,” she added. “Will we get the best bang for our buck?”

Jeff VanDerford contributed to this report.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.