Lawrence Mayor's Boston Docks Trust Due in Court

Written by Becca Manning, Charlestown Patch

A representative from Shipyard Quarters Marina, which is owned by the mayor of Lawrence, is expected to appear in court on Wednesday, Aug. 14, for a hearing about repairs at piers 6 and 8 in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.

The hearing, to be held at the Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Courthouse, is continued from Aug. 7 and involves a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, which would force property owner Martin Oliner and Shipyard Quarters LLC to make repairs to the property.

In December 2012, the Boston Conservation Commission voted to fine Oliner and the Shipyard Quarters Marina Trust $25,000 per day until the two piers were made safe for the public. Shortly after, the case was picked up by the Attorney General’s Office.

The state has also filed a civil suit against Shipyard Quarters Marina LLC, LDA Pier 9 LLC and Oliner individually requesting that the defendants be forced to pay a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for each day they were in violation of the Massachusetts Waterways Act and other state and license regulations.

In the motion for a preliminary injunction, state attorneys refer to the marina as a “public nuisance” that “poses a serious ongoing threat to vessels and users at the marina, the public and safe navigation in Boston Harbor.”

“The conditions at the marina have grown more dangerous over the last year, with rusted-out and collapsing pilings, twisted and cut-off docks and rotting structural support beams,” attorneys wrote in the motion.

At the end of April — about four months after the city ordered Oliner to make repairs — a steel piling that anchored one of the marina’s docks collapsed, according to the court filing.

“The fact that we are entering the heart of a hurricane season that is predicted to be worse than usual makes the requested relief all the more urgent,” state attorneys wrote.

If approved, the preliminary injunction, or PI, would require Oliner and Shipyard Quarters Marina LLC to hire a professional engineer within five days of the judge's order to inspect the marina and certify which sections, if any, are safe for use through the end of the current boating season, on Oct. 31. After that, the PI would prevent use of the marina until certified repairs are made.

Oliner told Newsday [paid link] that the marina "has not been allowed to deteriorate. It has gotten old. People get old. It has gotten old and is being replaced."

The PI also would prohibit Shipyard Quarters Marina LLC, LDA Pier 9 LLC and Oliner from conveying, transferring, abandoning, selling, destroying, encumbering or otherwise relinquishing any interest in real or personal property on the Navy Yard site without the court’s approval.

The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 2 p.m. at Suffolk County Courthouse Room 306.