Crandon Park has a new dock master building, replete with marina staff offices, a bait-and-tackle shop, restrooms, laundry facilities and showers for boaters. They're all accessible for people with disabilities, too.

The marina, at 4000 Crandon Boulevard in Key Biscayne, is among Miami-Dade's most frequented facilities, attracting 2,600 people on any given weekend. It's an example of how local governments can continue to improve on facilities by collecting user fees to pay for part of the maintenance.

The city of Miami's Dinner Key marina is about to get a face lift, too. For the first time, it will charge rent for 225 spots in a new managed mooring field off Dinner Key that has been in the works for 14 years.

That's long overdue.

The state had ordered Miami to clear out derelict vessels and install moorings kinder to the bay's fragile sea grasses than anchors, which tear up the bottom during storms. Storms in 2004 and 2005 cost the city $100,000 for removal of sunken and abandoned boats in the area.

By paying fees, boaters will help maintain a South Florida treasure.

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