LANGLEY — They didn’t pop the cork, but Langley City Council did raise a bottle of champagne after signing off on an agreement Wednesday to the transfer the city marina to the Port of South Whidbey.

Much to the delight of the audience, council members unanimously approved a revised contract to transfer the small boat harbor to the port by January 2009.

“As a citizen who followed it,

I am overjoyed,” said Langley resident Eric Levine.

“I say bravo,” Levine added as he pulled a bottle of champagne from a shopping bag and presented it to the city council.

Kathy McLaughlin, a supporter of the marina sale who was also a critic of the city’s lengthy approval process, was also pleased.

“I’m so relieved that our elected officials came to an agreement. This project will provide a positive economic and environmental impact on our community,” she said

No money in deal

Since the council’s last meeting in March, Langley’s legal counsel had reworded the contract between the city and the port, called an interlocal agreement, in a manner acceptable to both parties.

The surprise element in the deal: The hotly debated compensation paragraph was stricken from the document. The city will give up the marina without receiving money from the Port of South Whidbey.

“No money is changing hands. That’s no longer an issue,” City Administrator Walt Blackford said.

“In essence, we’re giving them the marina,” Mayor Neil Colburn said.

Colburn had asked for the compensation paragraph to be removed, saying it simplified the agreement and the amounts that had been suggested were not considered to be direct compensation.

Colburn said later that taking the paragraph out made the deal “easier and cleaner.”

“The money was originally to cover the anxiety of going without the marina revenue. But we’ll keep the marina for two years,” he said.

The city will continue to run the marina until January 2009, and will get to keep the revenue generated from the small boat harbor over that time span. Then the port will take over, but Langley will keep its Wharf Street right of way.

The agreement was approved five months to the day after negotiations between the city and the port began. The two sides started negotiations in December after Colburn had sent a letter in September offering the small boat harbor to the port.

Deal goes to port

Time has been a driving factor in the negotiations over the marina sale, as port commissioners must make a decision on completing the purchase of breakwater floats from Bremerton that the port hopes to install at the marina.

While port commissioners also met Wednesday evening, no action was taken on the agreement. Councilman Paul Samuelson, the chief negotiator for the city in the property transfer, was positive that the commissioners would sign off on the contract.

“I’ve been here three times, but I am relatively sure that the port is OK with this,” he said.

“We can say with confidence now that this document will pass muster on the Langley level, port level and state level,” Colburn added.

Boat ramp project moves forward

According to the agreement, the city will be responsible for beginning work on the boat ramp and park improvements, a project that had been stalled by disagreements between city and port before the transfer was initiated.

Rick Hill, director of the city’s public works department, said the project is still on track. Bids will go out soon, and construction is scheduled to begin in June.

While the interlocal agreement gives the port the green light to go ahead with planning for the harbor, some technicalities still have to be addressed.

City attorney Dale Roundy said the city has to officially declare the property surplus to transfer ownership. A public hearing must also be held.

The final agreement comes after weeks of talk about the marina’s value.

Councilman Robert Gilman had said in early March the value of the marina was about $1.4 million, while port commissioners said the amount of repairs needed at the marina offset any potential value for the property.

Gilman said Wednesday that he was certain that the property has a value exceeding $50,000, but he also stressed that the deal was “not about the money.”

In the contract, the port and the city agree to revisit and amend the 2004 Harbor Master Plan. The port will immediately start the permitting process and engineering for the proposed harbor improvements, and the city and the port will both try to attract passenger ferries and small cruise vessels to Langley. Also, the port will actively seek to provide better access for pedestrians and non-motorized water craft such as kayaks.

It’s now up to the port commissioners to accept the agreement. The board of commissioners has scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 18 at the Trinity Lutheran Church community building in Freeland to discuss the agreement.

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