City gets Clean Marina nod

Published 1:26 am Friday, June 10, 2011

The Clean Marina flag flies Thursday over the Washington waterfront. (WDN Photo/Sara Cowell)

A new flag is flying over Washington’s waterfront, signaling the city’s docks are recipients of the Clean Marina certification.
Minutes after it was presented to the city, the Clean Marina flag was flapping in the breeze at the west end of Stewart Parkway. It joined the American, North Carolina and City of Washington flags on the flagstaff near Dock A.
The Clean Marina program is a voluntary initiative that gives marina and boatyard facilities an opportunity to be recognized for their efforts to be environmentally responsible. It also provides boaters and others a way of identifying marinas and boatyards that implement best-management practices.
The Clean Marina program will list Washington’s docks as a Clean Marina facility in the program’s publications and maps. The city is allowed to use the Clean Marina logo in advertisements and on its correspondence.
“The designation means for the marina and the people that this marina is trying to do things in an environmentally sound way; they’re concerned about the environment. So, we want to have, if possible, as many people frequent Clean Marinas to help promote the environment and the preservation of our natural resources,” said Pat Durrett, Clean Marina coordinator for North Carolina.
Durrett presented the Clean Marina flag to Teresa Hamilton with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Hamilton supervises the city’s dock facilities.
“It was very friendly,” Hamilton said about the Clean Marina certification process. “Pat was very helpful in coming here and inspecting the docks and talking about the things we needed to do to be in compliance with the program. The application process was an easy one.”
Asked if the Clean Marina certification provides the city any advantages when seeking grants or other revenues for its docks, Hamilton said, “It doesn’t hurt. It looks good on grant applications if we are designated a Clean Marina. In fact, when we wrote the BIG-P grant in 2007, we stated that we would work toward Clean Marina status. It probably wouldn’t be a requirement at this point for receiving grants. … They look favorably on Clean Marinas.”
The BIG-P grant provided funding for expanding the city’s docks.
Clean Marina began in the summer of 2000. Marina operators who choose to participate must complete an evaluation form about their use of specific best-management practices.
If a marina meets criteria developed by N.C. Marine Trades Services and the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, it will be designated as a Clean Marina. The flags will signal to boaters that a marina cares about the cleanliness of area waterways, reads the Clean Marina website.
Marinas that do not meet the standards will be able to learn about improvements needed for Clean Marina designation. Marina owners may reapply after making the necessary changes.
The Cypress Landing Marina near Chocowinity is a Clean Marina.

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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