The Sand Bar Restaurant took the brunt of the flooding issues that impacted the Selma area around Christmas. The restaurant was completely underwater and owner David Pearce said it’s basically destroyed.

Pearce wants to rebuild the Sand Bar, but he’s asking the city to grant him a long-term lease before doing so. He wants to build a new restaurant on stilts and also have fuel and bait available for those putting in boats at the marina.

The council is expected to vote on whether to not to extend Pearce’s lease another 25 years during Tuesday night’s council meeting. Pearce has seven years remaining on his current lease.

The council should vote to extend Pearce’s contract. The Sand Bar has become an important part of the city marina.

It gives people that spend time on the river a place to stop and get food and relax.

If the longer contract is approved, construction on the new restaurant would take at least six to eight weeks.

The city has already approved renovating the bathrooms, but we encourage the council to consider moving the bathrooms to higher ground too. It won’t do any good to renovate them if they are covered in water the next time it floods.

Selma’s only marina is an asset to our community and The Sand Bar had become an integral part of that.

If the council permits, we expect it will come back bigger and better in a short time.