The transfer of a city lease needed to facilitate the sale of Mile High Marina was approved last night by the McCall City Council.
The lease transfer was among the final contingencies before the sale of a majority stake in the popular Payette Lake marina could be sold to Resilient Capital Partners (RCP) by current majority owners Sam and Kelly Worley of McCall.
Once the sale closes, the marina will be owned by RM Mile High LLC, an entity governed by RCP founder Johnny Powers and Sam Worley. Powers would become the majority owner, though percentage stakes have not been publicly disclosed.
Worley and Powers both told council members that the sale stems from the need to raise funding for a new breakwater and expansion of the marina that was approved last year.
“We’re basically providing capital for the breakwater project,” Powers said. “Things are going to stay the same. It’s really Sam’s vision and to continue with his legacy.”
RCP is a marina management and acquisition firm based in Dallas, Texas. The firm owns 72 marinas in 15 states.
The council discussed the lease transfer for more than 90 minutes on Thursday night before voting 4-0 to approve it. Council member Colby Nielsen was absent.
“I think rational, reasonable people would understand that we have no idea who is going to own private businesses or private property for the rest of our lives,” council member Mike Maciaszek said. “It’s just the way it is.”
Council denies knowledge of sale
Maciaszek, McCall Mayor Bob Giles, and council members Julie Thrower and Lyle Nelson each explicitly denied that they knew about the pending sale last year when they voted to approve the marina’s expansion application, despite several public comments suggesting the council withheld that information.
The public comments stemmed from a previous statement by Worley that he informed city staff that the sale was a “possibility” during a years-long review of the breakwater and marina expansion project, as Valley Lookout reported.
That statement was further explained at Thursday night’s meeting by McCall attorney Steve Millemann, who said he was the one who told city staff that Worley did not expect to be able to self-finance the project, which is estimated to cost $3 million.
That conversation, Millemann said, lasted about 30 seconds and took place early in the expansion application process—well before RCP was identified as the financing partner.
Millemann called public criticisms that the council withheld information about the sale “utter nonsense.”
“How do I know (council members) didn’t know that?” he said. “I didn’t know it.”
“If I sound frustrated, I am,” Millemann said. “What I see is a steamrolling of the public’s concerns based on assertions that aren’t true.”
‘Deceived’ and ‘misled’
Before Millemann spoke, several speakers said they felt “deceived” and “misled” by the fact that the financing of the expansion project was not made public until after it was approved.
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“I feel very deceived,” McCall resident Joey Pietri said. “If this is all true and you had knowledge of this partnership, it’s just very disingenuous to the people of this city.”
Tuck Miller, a McCall resident who was a vocal opponent of the expansion project, urged the city to re-open the public hearing.
“A lot of us in the community are really tired of being misled,” Miller said.
Ed Elliot, another McCall resident who was a vocal critic of the expansion project, echoed Miller.
“I’m simply hoping tonight that you have the courage and the integrity to re-open the public hearing,” Elliot said. “Let’s not sell our town off to out-of-state vultures to take advantage of us.”
Worley: backlash unexpected
Worley, who has been the marina’s operating partner since he bought in as a minority owner in 2004, told council members he was caught off-guard by the public backlash.
“I didn’t realize this would trigger the reaction that we’re getting here,” he said. “I’m just trying to raise money for the breakwater.”
Worley became the marina’s majority owner about three years ago. He said reverting to a minority owner was “not his first choice,” but that he is comfortable with the RCP partnership, which will see him continue as the operating owner of the marina.
Minority partner Will Gustafson will also be bought out as part of the ownership change. Gustafson’s California-based firm Glass Creek also purchased Garden City’s Plantation Golf Club in 2018, and later renamed it Boise River Club.
The timeline for the sale to close is unknown. Worley and Millemann had not responded to a request for comment by Valley Lookout at the time this story was published.
Marina expansion project
The marina expansion project was first proposed in 2021 and approved on a 3-2 vote last year by the city council. Once complete, the expansion will add about 90 new boat slips to the 165-slip marina at 1300 E. Lake St. in downtown McCall.
An existing log breakwater will be replaced with a new breakwater system attached to 1,100 feet of floating public boardwalk surrounding the marina as part of the project.
The public boardwalk breakwater system the expansion calls for would start on the north side of the marina, extend 617 feet into the lake, and then run 510 feet south to the marina’s southern boundary.
Two 30-foot by 30-foot public viewpoints would be included on the part of the dock system furthest from the shore. The boardwalk would otherwise be 10 feet wide. It would not be lighted and would close at dusk.
The city lease on which the marina operates was initially established in April 1969. The initial lease rate was $1 per year. A.R. Krigbaum and James Hardy subsequently built and opened Sports Marina—the first name for what eventually became Mile High Marina.
The marina now pays 4% of annual revenue from boat slips to the city for the lease. In 2025, the city expects to earn a total of $36,000 from the lease with the marina and a similar lease held by the Garnet Beach Homeowners Association.
The marina lease is due to expire and be re-negotiated in 2027
