Overview:
St Simons Marina is supposed to be a public facility. Yet the private operator has flouted its lease agreement, controls access and uses taxpayer money for repairs.
Earlier this summer, Glynn County Commissioners were weighing a $5 million decision.
The St. Simons Boating and Fishing Club, a place where water sport enthusiasts and fishermen have launched their vessels for more than 75 years, wanted the commissioners to renew its lease at the county’s only public marina.
What’s more — the 240-member organization led by the Commission Chair Walter Rafolski’s former campaign manager also wanted the county to pay for repairs needed to ensure the facility is safe.
On June 19, 2025, the commissioners voted unanimously to allocate taxpayer funds to do that, despite the fact that the club for years has flouted its lease obligations and done little to promote open access to the coveted waterfront that critics say acts more like a private boys club than a public facility.
The extraordinary earmarking of funds is the latest chapter in the county’s long history of subsidizing and underwriting the private management of the marina. The commissioners’ decision has prompted protests from at least one businessman who says the county did not open a public tender for the marina operations. It also comes amid an acrimonious dispute between the commissioners and the district attorney over a $1 million debt and allegations from commissioners that the DA wasted taxpayer money.
The $5 million will replace the bulkhead, reconstruct the concrete decks, repair the structural elements of the boat hoists, and construct a small marina office, all elements that an outside engineering firm says are vital to running the operations safely. Around $2.2 million of the funding will come from the county’s settlement in the Golden Ray cleanup. The remaining $2.8 million will come from Glynn County’s share of the Accommodation Excise Tax fund.
“Rather than continuing with piecemeal upgrades, Glynn County made the decision to move forward with a comprehensive public capital investment to restore core infrastructure and preserve this County-owned marina for future generations,” Glynn County Manager William Fallon said in an email to The Current.
Clement Cullens, the head of the boating club, thanked the commissioners after the vote for restoring a place where local families like his have generational memories.
“We’re very thankful the county and the taxpayers are making this wonderful improvement for all of us, and hopefully, we get to be the ones that manage it going forward,” said Cullens.
Yet missing from the county’s budget decision was any demand for the club to pay the county back for the taxpayer funds used to keep the club open and safe for the public.
‘It is subsidized by the county; however, if a random boater wants to dock their boat there, they are told they are closed. It’s like a club, and if you’re not a member of this club, they don’t want you. But they’re receiving subsidies from our tax dollars, which is wrong.’
Michael Gill, a local resident and boater
After a hurricane in 2017 the county paid $233,000 for repairs to the dock and in 2019 required the club to create an escrow account that would cover the county’s insurance deductible of $200,000 in case of new storm damage.
The club spent an additional $250,000 in repairs since fiscal year 2018. Its escrow account balance as of June 30, 2024, was $100,978, the last publicly available figure. The club has not released its audited financials for fiscal year 2025 yet. Its lease with the county requires a $5,000 deposit into the escrow account each financial quarter.
Michael Gill, who was born and raised in Brunswick and works for the Sea Island Company, has lived in his 40-foot Sponberg anchored in the waterway next to the St. Simons Marina for the past four years. He says he’s traveled 38,000 nautical miles and has never seen an arrangement like the St. Simons Marina.
“It is subsidized by the county; however, if a random boater wants to dock their boat there, they are told they are closed,” said Gill. “It’s like a club, and if you’re not a member of this club, they don’t want you. But they’re receiving subsidies from our tax dollars, which is wrong.”
How the marina got started
In the early 20th century, the county received the piece of property that is now the St. Simons Marina as a behest stipulating that the plot must be used as a public marina. The county funded the initial construction, and soon after, it formed a nonprofit corporation to manage the property that would become the St. Simons Boating and Fishing Club in 1949.
The original board of directors consisted of individuals who had been using the marina from its inception. As decades passed, the county continued to fund improvements there.
This arrangement continued for years, with the county signing agreements with the club without much discussion or examination about the status quo, according to Cullens, a Glynn County native who spent many hot humid days launching the family boat from the marina with his father who was an avid fisherman .
“In 1989, ’90, ’91, honestly, the communication between us as tenants and the county as the overseers, landlords, appeared to have gone dry and no mud on anybody’s boots there. I think it was just a good and fair situation. Sometimes it wouldn’t be looked at for several years,” Cullens said, referring to the lease. “Originally, we were providing yearly statements to the county. The county kind of did away with that requirement, and largely the marina just kind of went for about 20 years of operating with no real reason to check in.”
The St. Simons Marina on St. Simons Island on July 1, 2025. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight Local
Clement Cullens via LinkedIn
Cullens said that the last major improvement to the marina was the pier structure in the late 1980s or early 1990s. He described the apparatus as a “giant concrete pad with rebar throughout it that is no longer used on marine applications.”
Cullens left the county but returned in 2013 after finishing law school at the University of Georgia. He became a full member in 2015 and joined the board of directors in 2017.
Hurricane damage raises controversy
According to the club’s 2009 lease, it was required to pay insurance covering the premises. It never did. The decision became controversial in 2017 when Hurricane Matthew hit the Golden Isles and the marina’s docks were destroyed.
Club members Walt Koran and Cliff Pease made public appeals for the county to cover the hurricane repairs, according to stories in The Islander.
Residents, meanwhile, started to question the cozy relationship between the club and the people who controlled the county’s purse strings. At the time, club membership fees were $1 per year, according to the lease.
Peter Murphy, who was District 2 commissioner for St. Simons at the time, said that he was unaware the marina was a public facility.
The entrance to the St. Simons Marina on St. Simons Island on July 25, 2025. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight Local
Despite the apparent breach of the club’s contractual obligations, Glynn County decided to pay $233,000 to repair the damage. The county commissioners directed the club to better advertise its public nature by replacing the signs that had previously only displayed the club’s name with a sign saying “St. Simons Marina.”
At the time of the debate, Koran told The Islander that the marina has not cost the county any money since 1949, and it is now a $2 million facility. Pease said that the club has paid to build and add on to the docks over the years, with no assistance from the county.
However, according to Fallon, the county manager, the county has helped fund the club over the years.
“Over the decades, both the club and the county have contributed to its upkeep and longevity,” he told The Current.
While the hurricane repairs were underway, the county commissioned an independent structural assessment of the marina.
The conclusion by Environmental Marine Civil Survey Engineering Services, Inc. (EMC) was that the pier showed serious signs of aging and multiple upgrades were required. The north deck slabs were the most urgent, the report said.
These repairs were not included in the county contract to fix the hurricane damage.
In 2019, after two years of negotiations, the county and club reached an agreement on a new lease that increased the club’s rent from $1 to $1,000 per year. The club was also obligated to deposit $5,000 each quarter into an escrow account to cover the country’s $200,000 deductible for any insurance claim related to the docks.
The 2019 lease also required the club to address the repairs listed in the EMC report by July 1, 2024, which would total approximately $400,000, according to the club.
The club didn’t tackle those needed repairs, Cullens said, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
No money to fund repairs
Cullens said that the club did not want to start repairs that might have been more serious than the engineering report had discovered.
”The superstructure may have been worse than what the original EMC report indicated. That’s an important consideration,” Cullens said. “One thing that we’ve batted around internally with the board is that, if it’s $5 million to get a brand new pier structure in 2025, the total of the repairs was $500,000, that would have just been throwing Band-aids at broken arms.”
The club’s annual updates to the county commissioners reported that it was making some repairs each year.
But in the club’s 2024 update, when the five-year agreement was set to expire, the club conceded it would not be able to afford the safety issues in the EMC report.
The boat lift at the St. Simons Marina on St. Simons Island on July 25, 2025. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight Local
“The marina does not believe it will be able to meet the financial burdens of repairing the marina structures, as contemplated in the Lease, without raising certain rates,” the document said.
The county extended the lease for another year, on the condition that the club increased member and public usage rates of the marina to collect funds for the necessary repairs.
The boating club derives more than half of its launching revenue from members, with the remaining half coming from non-members. Additionally, the lion’s share of its profit comes from boat storage; permanent storage is only offered to members.
By 2025, however, the club still could not afford the work.
In January, an updated assessment from EMC noted that only “minimal repairs” had been made since the original report. The engineers then concluded that “the marina should be taken out of service for the safety of the public and consider a full demolition and rebuild of the marina.”
Cullens disputed claims that the marina was not safe for use. He said that the club collaborated with the county and EMC to devise a safe and operational method for using the southern hoist while shutting down the northern one.
Public pushback sidelined for now
This summer, the club formally pitched the county for the millions of dollars necessary for the structural repairs.
The only person to provide pushback was Michael Torras, whose family operates a private marina in Brunswick. His argument was that the state of disrepair was due to the club’s long-term neglect and should not be the taxpayers’ responsibility.
The county did not open bids for operating St. Simons Marina. It instead extended the existing arrangement through June 30, 2026. Fallon said that the added year will enable the county to assess long-term operational options following the completion of repairs.
Construction at the marina is scheduled to begin in October and last 150 days.
Cullens said that the staff will be working behind the scenes to ensure the refurbishment is complete on all fronts.
Gill describes the marina as an “eyesore” and said that it sits on prime real estate, given its ideal proximity to the Intracoastal Waterway.
“I would be at a marina if this marina were open. It’s wrong, what’s happening there. I grew up here, and I’m told that I’m not welcome there, and that is unacceptable. I pay taxes here, just like everyone else does,” Gill said.
Fallon said that he is satisfied with the club’s management so far.
“Moving forward, the county will continue working with the club or any future operator to encourage public use, promote awareness, and ensure that the marina continues to operate in a manner that reflects its role as a public resource for the entire community,” he said.
Cullens says that the club gets maligned as “good ole boys,” but he rejects that interpretation.
“Honestly, at the end of the day, it’s lawyers and bankers and doctors. We’re just doing it because we love the marina. We love the idea of it. We’ve got a really long and robust, important history of managing the place. We do it because we love it, not to keep anybody else out. Somebody’s got to do it. We are well situated to do it,” he said.
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Type of Story: Investigative
In-depth examination of a single subject requiring extensive research and resources.
