The cyclone that hit Western Washington last week caused some damage to Oak Harbor’s already-deteriorating marina.

At a recent city workshop, Harbor Master Chris Sublet said that some patio walls came loose on Nov. 19 and the south end of E Dock disconnected and shifted. The windstorm on Nov. 4 also brought some pain to the patio.

Yet the cost of repairing this damage is a drop in the bucket to the major problems the 50-year-old marina is facing. The area is silting in, and the breakwater and dock systems are failing.

“There’s a lot of challenges at the marina, and we expect a lot more,” Sublet said.

The repairs to the marina are needed on top of the channel, which is also silting in. Dredging the channel alone will cost $50 million.

At recent city-hosted open houses, Sublet put forth three options to turn the marina around. Including the channel dredging costs, the city can remove and replace the marina for $94 million, renovate it for $75 million or close it for $11 million.

The main options the city identified for gathering the funds is to form a port district, receive grants and legislation or create taxes and bonds.

“One of the key takeaways from the open house and the comments and conversations we’ve had with the city council is no one wants to close the marina,” Sublet said. “Not the public, not (the city council), not the staff, definitely not the staff, so we have to find another solution, and it’s not going to be easy, but I believe we’ll get there definitely.”

Port districts receive millions in funding from the state. The Coupeville Port ends at Mark Street in Rolling Hills, and the Anacortes Port ends on the north side of Deception Pass. In theory, the Oak Harbor Port would be everything in between.

Councilmember Jim Woessner has been consistent about pursuing all options, even if only some of them ultimately work out.

He suggested re-engaging the discussion on a business and occupation tax on companies that make over $5 million a year, talking to the Navy about utilizing the upland area it owns, going back to Washington D.C. with pointed requests about the marina and educating the public on a port district.

While it will require effort, Mayor Ronnie Wright predicted a successful outcome on the port district vote.

“I think if we all get behind this, if we all work diligently, and we show a good vision for what this, and we stress the economic driver that’s behind this, I think it will be very successful,” he said.

Councilmember Barbara Armes shared Wright’s optimism.

“(People) want to see something different in the city,” she said. “We don’t have a vision and a plan. This is our opportunity to have a vision and a plan that we’ve never had. This will be monumental for our city. People will look at it and say, ‘we want to come and see this city.’”

The council will meet in December to vote on the next step.