Application for
non-profit berthing, June 2004
The
Inside tie
berthing is generally not suitable for regular
The Berkeley
Racing Canoe Center (BRCC) is a newly formed organization that will provide a
high level of public service and access, including development of youth teams
and public boat rides during festival events (Berkeley Bay Festival, July 4,
and possibly the Kite Festival). BRCC will report to the Waterfront Commission
annually to demonstrate its public-serving character and its contributions to
Joint
activities with the Berkeley Boosters,
Sailing
Club, Cordell Explorer and the Nautilus Institute.
The people
involved have operated one or two dragon boats in the Berkeley Marina since
July of 2002 as the "Berkeley Dragons" and "DragonMax"
dragon boat teams. These teams have been using boats owned by the California
Dragon Boat Association (CDBA) and have participated in Berkeley Bay Festival
and July 4 activities by giving boat rides to the general public. These
activities will continue and will be expanded under the new organizational
structure. BRCC will continue to be closely affiliated with the CDBA.
It is noted
that a number of other non-profit public-serving organizations currently use
Marina Berths free of charge: Cal Sailing Club, Cordell Explorer, Nautilus
Institute, and Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors. All of these groups
occupy regular
This
application is made in accordance with Berkeley Council Resolution no.
58,859-N.S., "Adopting a Policy of the use of Berths at the Berkeley
Marina by Non-profit Organizations Providing Community Services."
The
resolution lists the following criteria:
a. The purpose of the organization is to supply a beneficial
public service.
b. The organization must conduct an activity on a regular and
on-going basis.
c. The organization must clearly demonstrate that its presence in
the
d. The organization must provide a service not duplicated by a
private business operator.
The BRCC
meets or exceeds all of the criteria, as follows:
a: BRCC provides low-cost access to recreational and competitive
team paddling, serving youth, school, and adult members, guests and program
participants, and gives boat rides and instruction to the general public free
of charge during festival events.
b. BRCC conducts scheduled team practice and entry-level
instruction, and gives free boat rides to the public during scheduled City
festival events.
c. Cost/benefit analysis:
BRCC has an initial membership of approximately 40 people, mostly
drawn from the DragonMax and Berkeley Dragons dragon boat teams that have been
using the site since July 2002. The current level of activity involves
approximately 200 90-minute boat trips per year with an average of 16 paddlers
on each boat for each trip. At commercial rates of $8 per hour for recreational
paddle boat rental, the value provided is approximately $38,400 of boating
access.
BRCC members have provided free boat rides during the 2003
Berkeley Bay Festival and July 4 festival. Estimating a total of 100 rides per
day, and a minimum commercial value of $5 per ride, the value of "open
house" services provided in 2003 was at least $1,000. With the addition of
the second boat, and with greater efficiency as BRCC gains experience, festival
participation and public value is expected to increase by a factor of two or
three.
The value of youth programs and high school team coaching is much
more difficult to quantify, but will probably be comparable to the services
provided by a playing field. We note that playing fields in
Total commercial value of boating services provided for 2004 will
be a minimum of $40,000 and very likely several times greater. Value of the
skiff berths occupied is, in theory, a maximum of $70/month or $840 per year
for each 20 feet of inside tie occupied, or $5,040 for the 120 feet of inside
tie berthing requested.
However it should be noted that the
The only cost to the City will be a small amount of staff time to
process this request and to issue keys to the few qualified BRCC members
authorized to supervise the use of the boats.
d. There are no known private businesses in the Berkeley Marina
with which the BRCC will compete.
The Council
resolution goes on to require that "Only those organizations which
demonstrate that they promote cultural and ethnic diversity, as evidenced by
the following criteria, shall be eligible for consideration." The criteria
listed are:
a. Membership policy and practices.
b. Recruitment strategy.
c. Outreach to under-represented populations.
d. Mission statement, if any."
Most
non-profits meet these requirements in principle, but BRCC can demonstrate that
it meets them in practice as well. The BRCC membership is already comprised of
a very diverse ethnic and racial mix with good representation of Asian,
African, Hispanic and European ancestry. (The team portrait bears a striking
resemblance to the City of
Section 3 of
article 2 of the BRCC Bylaws explicitly establishes a strict non-discrimination
policy for both membership and employment.
It is said
that all of our ancestors came down the river in a canoe. Dragon boats have
close association with Chinese culture, outriggers with
To answer
the specific requirements:
a. Membership policy is non-discriminatory, as evidenced by
current membership composition. Current composition of the BRCC is gender
balanced and ethnically and racially diverse. Most dragon boat racing is mixed
gender; the most competitive events require that nearly half of the paddlers
are female.
b. Recruitment strategy for youth teams will involve
c. Outreach to under-represented populations is much less of a
problem for BRCC than for other boating-related non-profits, because the BRCC
membership already includes people who are traditionally under-represented in
water-related recreation. This notwithstanding, our recruitment efforts will
continue to emphasize
d. The mission of the
To do this effectively and at low cost, BRCC believes that it is
important to keep boats in the water or as close to the water as possible, so
that vehicle use and fuel consumption are never a necessary part of water-borne
activity.
Application
for non-profit berthing in the
a. Name and
address of organization:
1442A
b. Name,
address & telephone number of persons responsible for business affairs of
the group:
Rodger Garfinkle
1153 Old Alameda Point,
510-522-8025 Rodgerrafter@yahoo.com
Paul Kamen
510-540-7968 pk@well.com
Susan McKay
510-527-0765 mckay@migcom.com
Jose M. Gonzalez. Jr.
510-232-7707 jgonzalez@horizonlines.com
Dexter Dobberpuhl
925-370-7915 Retxed1@Aol.com
Tim Herring
925-934-9198 herringt@pacbell.net
Phyllis Alvarez
510-428-0929
danzcrazed@earthlink.net
c. Type of
organization: Non-profit public benefit corporation, 501c(3) tax status applied
for.
d. Number of
members in organization: Approximately 40 members at initial formation, likely
to expand as youth programs are developed.
e. Level of
participation of members: One excursion or practice per week during winter
months, 2-3 per week during summer, plus regular contributions to open house,
outreach or youth team coaching.
f. Age-level
of members of organization and/or participants: Regular participants will
probably be 15 years old or older. Participants in festival boat rides may be
as young at 8 years old. Children younger than 8 will probably not be allowed
on the boats for safety reasons. There is no upper age limit for active adult
participation.
g.
Contribution to community including hours of service (if applicable) and
activities: Members volunteer to host free boat rides to the public during
h. Reason
and justification for request: See mission statement above. It would not be
possible to provide low-cost access and a high level of public service without
below-market berthing.
i. Time
period/duration for use of
j. Copy of
bylaws: Bylaws were adopted on June 9 2004 and are attached to this application.
See Article 2, Section 3, on page 2 of the Bylaws, for the BRCC
non-discrimination provisions.
k. List of
completed and planned community projects:
Completed:
1) Access for people who would like to experience dragon boat
paddling on an informal basis.
2) Participation in Berkeley Bay Festival and July 4 activities at
the
Planned:
1) Formation of a Berkeley High dragon boat team.
2) Providing free boat rides and organized programs for youth
groups from Berkeley Youth Alternatives, Berkeley Boosters, and
3) Providing environmental non-motorized waterfront tours for
groups from Save the Bay and other environmental groups.
l. Financial
statement for the prior year: BRCC is a new organization and has no financial
data for the prior year. The initial balance sheet includes a debt of
approximately $13,000 to reimburse a member who purchased the two dragon boats
for the team. Other costs will be approximately $2,000 per year for insurance
and $1,000 per year for boat maintenance and repair. Administrative costs are
expected to be around $500 per year for the mailbox, web page, mailings, and
other miscellaneous services. BRCC should be able to operate with dues of
approximately $100 per year for adult members, and very much lower dues, if
any, for youth members.