What Is The Point?
For the second time this season, The Point Resort and Marina cancelled a fireworks event due to lack of cooperation from the Town of Dandridge. In July, the question centered around a financial contribution from the Town of Dandridge that was denied and the Labor Day weekend dispute was regarding road closure that was necessary for the event to continue.
In August, in two separate motions, the Dandridge Board of Mayor and Aldermen denied road closure for the event and denied any financial contribution, citing overtime hours that would be incurred and the number of events already planned that will require overtime. While the July event did go on, thanks in part to local business owners that stepped in to make up the financial gap in funding, the Labor Day show could not take place without bridge closure, due to the proximity of the marina to the bridge.
What has come to light, in the midst of requests and motions, is an apparent relationship breakdown between owners of The Point and the Town of Dandridge, who are the lease holders of the property. The terms of the lease require that The Point Resort and Marina pay the Town of Dandridge 5% of their Gross annually, with a $25,000 base lease price, making the Town’s portion subject to the success of the business. Information in the lease provides that The Point make payment for the prior fiscal year by July 10th, with a stipulation of an administrative fee of $25 for payments received after the 25th day of the month that were due the previous month. According to the Town of Dandridge, The Point Resort and Marina sometimes pays in monthly or quarterly payment and they are currently up to date with their payments. In the fiscal year 2013-2014, which just ended, the Town received a lease payment of $48,285, which is 5% of the gross receipts. That figure does not include any taxes that are paid. There has been some confusion that the property is owned by TVA and still public property. According to the Town of Dandridge, they are the sole owners of the property and the lease provides that The Point is not obligated to participate in Town sponsored or charity events. If it does participate as a venue, it is entitled to compensation if requested.
Owners of The Point Resort and Marina contend that they are, in short, partners with the Town, as it benefits from their financial success. Representatives of the Town, however, assert that they are simply lease holders and have no voice in ownership decision making.
The push and pull has resulted in an uncomfortable relationship between the establishment and Town officials, bordering on giving the impression of crossing the line from business to personal in some instances. New plans for waterfront development, which may or may not involve property leased to The Point, have added another dimension to the fray. The Town of Dandridge and EDOC are investing around $20,000 for plans for waterfront development, however, aside from The Point, there is little Town owned property that would be easily developable. Some property around the area of the dike has TVA restrictions and borders TVA property, the bank below the Library is steep and the Boat Launch is owned by TVA and operated by TWRA. Some shallow property exists around the Majestic Bay area, but the boon property is unquestionably that of The Point.
The Point Resort and Marina issued a statement last week regarding the cancellation of fireworks that outlines their belief that some officials will not afford them the same consideration that they do other businesses and events, noting that the July fireworks display brought people into other businesses beyond The Point, itself. Some public officials have made the contention, within the scope of a public meeting, that owners at The Point are difficult to deal with and expect special consideration. While the future relationship of the Town and The Pointe Resort and Marina is in flux, what is clear is that more engineers and architects are coming to Town to tell taxpayers how to best tie the Town to Douglas Lake and to reap financial benefits from the waterfront location. Given the still questionable success of the multimillion dollar activity center, some might say that 5% of the profits and an occasional road closure are a pretty good exchange in a risk/reward assessment.
I really think that it boils down to this-developers have already invested in The Point. They, according to the Town of Dandridge, are current on their payments and it costs the taxpayers relatively nothing. $20,000 is a lot of money and it seems to be the going professional rate. Isn’t that about what it cost to “Brand” the historic Town, um, historic? Or was that for the stunningly simple “We saved a place for You”? Perhaps we had a coupon and got a package deal? Did anybody ever consider just supporting what we have and putting the time, effort and maybe a little money into just making it work? Just wondering.
