Lawrence mayor’s companies must get into ship shape

Village of Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner and the companies he runs were ordered to stop the planned eviction of boat owners from the Shipyard Quarters Marina in Boston by a Massachusetts judge on Aug. 15.

Oliner, whose companies own two piers in the Charlestown Navy Yard, was also ordered to immediately protect the structural integrity of the dilapidated piers, which comprise the marina.

Justice Elizabeth M. Farley, of Suffolk Superior Court, also extended indefinitely a temporary restraining order that demands Oliner and the companies, which are comprised of several investors, to hire an engineer to inspect the piers. The order also froze the companies’ assets, which prevents the companies from selling the piers.

The mayor said previously that he was working on resolving the problem and plans were in the works to replace the decrepit piers with a new state-of-the-art marina at cost of approximately $5 million.

“I take this very seriously as one of the investors,” Oliner said. “I have been dealing with this situation and the piers need to be replaced.”

Boat owners are now permitted to remain in what the judge termed a “safe” section of the marina until Oct. 31. Previously 112 marina tenants of the 300-slip marina had received eviction notices on Aug. 13. “Our primary concern is for the safety of the boat owners and we continue to explore all legal options,” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement.

An emergency motion was filed on Aug. 14 by the attorney general’s office to stop the evictions. Oliner’s companies had violated the court order’s terms by not giving the boat owners a reasonable amount of time to move their boats, the attorney general’s office said.

The current marina is 30 years old and is in need of repair. Based on a report by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection there are several decrepit and hazardous components such as rotted, broken and missing support pilings, and corroded electrical boxes and decayed and “failing” supports and debris.

Shipyard Quarters was issued several violations. The DEP ordered the company to perform repairs within 45 days or daily fines up to $25,000 could be levied.

“The biggest problem is the steel beams, they have holes in them, which is not abnormal for marinas,” Oliner said. “I am not minimizing this, it needs to be replaced in its entirety.”