Marine Patrol to work with Coast Guard

Deal in works for the summer

The Lorain Port Authority Marine Patrol could get a new operating agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Marine Patrol for years has operated through the Port with cooperation from the Lorain Police Department for water enforcement in the summer on the Black River and Lake Erie.

Enforcement largely would remain the same, but the Marine Patrol this year could move its offices and patrol boat dock to the Lorain Coast Guard Station, said Port Executive Director Tom Brown and Accountant Yvonne Smith. They announced the agreement as part of the Port’s April 11 board meeting.

Brown and Smith met with Coast Guard commanders and have a draft memorandum of understanding for the Lorain Marine Patrol to move into the Lorain station on the east side of the Black River.

“It’s a great partnership and I’m really excited by it,” Brown said.

The Marine Patrol officers already train and communicate with the Coast Guard, so moving there would make that even easier, the Port staff said. The Marine Patrol in the past kept its patrol boat at the Spitzer Lakeside Marina.

The change also will free office space at 319 Black River Lane.

This year the Port received a grant of $32,000 to operate the Lorain Marine Patrol.

The money comes from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which distributes money from the Ohio Waterways Safety Fund. It comes from Ohio’s motor fuel tax, watercraft registration and titling fees and money from the Coast Guard.

The city of Vermilion also will use a $32,000 grant for its Marine Patrol this year, according to ODNR.