The City of Bainbridge will take over management of the city-owned Bainbridge Marina on September 1, but customers of the Marina will recognize a familiar face behind the counter.

Billy Birdsong has been hired by the city to continue running the day-to-day operations as the marina manager. His salary will be $32,000 annually.

Birdsong, along with his wife Lynn, had leased the marina from the city since September 2008. As part of the lease agreement, the Birdsongs paid the city 4.5 percent of the monthly revenue coming from boat slip rental, gasoline sales, and sales in the convenience store.

“We are pleased that Billy agreed to continue at the marina as a city employee. The Birdsong family made the decision to not renew the lease, but with this arrangement, customers should not notice a difference,” said city manager Chris Hobby.

Birdsong also said he was pleased to continue working at the marina.

“My plan is to keep things going as smoothly as possible,” Birdsong said. “Many of our customers said they like the way I operate the marina and that means a lot.”

Because the city will now receive 100 percent of the operational revenue generated by the marina, rather than the 4.5 percent in the previous lease agreement, the city would “break even” by adding Birdsong to the city payroll, Hobby said.

Located at 2400 Airport Road, the marina, with direct access to the Flint River, opened in late 2007 and offers 42 slips for boats of all sizes.