Rent-Free Paddleboard Deal Up For Approval
Tony WintonMay 20, 2019
UPDATE — The village council Tuesday approved the paddleboard agreement with significant changes that will make it a one-year trial without an automatic renewal, limit the number of boards to four, and will change the liability language of the contract intended to give the Village greater legal protections. If the operation is successful, the Village will seek a revenue share. A representative from PADL agreed to all the changes.
A proposed no-bid, rent-free license for a commercial paddleboard rental service at the Village Beach Park is set for approval at the Village Council’s Tuesday meeting.
Village Manager Andrea Agha is recommending approval of the one-year license agreement, which would allow PADL, LLC, to operate a paddleboard concession without making any payment for use of Village property. The proposed agreement is non-exclusive, which means the Village could approve competitors. The item is slated for the consent agenda, which means there will be no discussion unless a Council member objects.
Agha said staff prepared the license agreement “at direction of Council.” She said the agreement was not subject to competitive bidding procurement rules.
At a March 19 meeting, Andres Avello addressed the Council, stating the idea to have a “Limebike” version of paddleboards available for resident use.
Key Biscayne receives more than $1.8 million annually from uses of Village facilities by vendors, mostly from instructors at the Community Center, according to data from a public records request. A snack concession at the Key Biscayne Community Center pays $800 a month. Five fitness trainers pay permit fees to the Village for conducting classes on Village property. Most instructors at the Community Center are on a 70/30 revenue split, officials said. In contrast, the Village pays the FreeBee transportation service, which also utilizes Village space.
At the neighboring Beach Club, the board of directors has also been approached for a concession by PADL. The company offered a 20 percent revenue share, said President Donna Rice. She said she has no concerns about the concession at the Beach Park. “I would not consider that to be competition if they had a commercial paddleboard vendor,” Rice said.
Agha offered no explanation when asked why the proposed paddleboard license was being treated differently than some other vendors making use of Village property. She said she plans to conduct a review of the way the Village manages commercial entities’ access to Village property.
Responses
Luis de la Cruz
May 20
Innovative efforts like this one, produced by born and raised Key Rats, should be supported 100% by our Council and our community! Hope it happens.
Claudio Beier
May 21
Double Standards and Hypocrisy in Key Biscayne.
I would like to express my utmost disapproval and opposition to the proposed paddle board license to PADL, LLC.
Not too long ago the city of Key Biscayne imposed regulations for kitesurfing in the village beach, among other things, proof of proficiency in kitesurfing, payment of liability insurance for each individual kitesurfer, which comes at an average cost of $50 per year, and an annual fee of $250.00 imposed by the city. All of that after the city determined a new location away from the Commodore Club building’s beach front. The new location is a smaller stretch of sand in front of the Silver Sands hotel, where the space is limited and there is more foot traffic than at the Commodore Club, therefore considerably increasing the safety risk to launch and land kites. Spending $300.00 a year to kite in a beach with public access, more dangerous than the previous spot, without receiving any amenities didn’t make sense to me. It’s simply outrageous, and I have to consult a specialist in the matter, but probably unconstitutional.
Now the city of Key Biscayne is proposing to give a free commercial license to a for profit, private organization, which will use the village beach to rent paddle boards in Limebike style. Does anybody see the obvious double standard here? Citizens pay to use village beach while for profit organizations use it for free. Not only that, where is the safety concern of untrained, unsupervised citizens and tourists using paddle boards? Who’s going to supervise if the renters are using life vests? That they don’t go out on offshore wind days? That the boards don’t hit small kids in the head in the no vessel zone?
This proposal is simply flabbergasting. If the city dares to approve this license, this is an incredible double standard and hypocrisy from their part. Again, charge a premium for citizens to access the beach to launch and land a kite and give the beach for free to a for profit private organization, that will create incredible higher risks than any kiter could ever had.
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