MORE ratepayer money is set to be poured into the Yacht Club building on the Frankston foreshore.
The building has become a troublesome project for council, with the site sitting mostly vacant since 2016 despite upwards of $11 million of ratepayer’s money being spent on works. In Frankston Council’s draft annual budget for 2020/2021, which was endorsed on 30 March, it was agreed that an additional $1.5 million in ratepayer money would be spent to refit the building.
The refit will accommodate the Frankston Coast Guard, who will move into the bottom floor of the building.
Council’s preferred option was to move the Coast Guard into a new facility at Oliver’s Hill. $8 million had been committed by council to that project, but the funding was later withdrawn after neither the state or federal government supported the plan (“Coast Guard move to Yacht Club ticked off”, The Times, 21/10/19).
The decision to move the Coast Guard into the building came after negotiations to lease out a bottom floor section of the building failed in August last year. Combustible cladding was also found inside the building last year.
The $1.5 million will be mostly funded through the council’s reserves. The draft budget will go out to community consultation until 4 May before being sent back to council for final approval.
