PORT ANGELES – City residents should pay a $5 per day boat launch fee at the city’s Ediz Hook dock while people from out of town should pay $7.50 per day, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission decided Thursday night.
That is unless city staff’s research determines a long-ago lease agreement with the federal Bureau of Reclamation prevents the city from charging for using the two-lane boat launch.
The vote was 3-2 with board members Jack Harmon and Ron Johnson voting “no.”
The recommendation now will go to the City Council for consideration at its July 3 meeting.
Since the fee must be imposed by ordinance, it must be considered by the council a second time, which would be at the July 17 meeting.
If approved, the new fee would take effect Aug. 1.
Deputy Recreation Director Bill Sterling told the crowd of about a dozen people in the council chambers that boat launch users weren’t being singled out for the fee.
Last year, the City Council directed the staff to look at all the city’s fees in preparation for the 2008 budget, he said.
The most expensive item for the boat launch is piling replacement, a project estimated to cost $135,000, Sterling said.
The city is seeking a state Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation grant to replace most of the aging pilings.
The grant would require a $55,000 match from the city, he said.
The grant wouldn’t cover annual maintenance, he said, such as the $9,000 estimated for annual installation of docks and the $11,800 estimated for annual dock repairs and replacements.
The grant is only for capital projects.
The state encourages local governments to charge a fee consistent with the service or activity offered to help fund maintenance, Sterling said.
The Port of Port Angeles charges a fee for its boat launches at the Port Angeles Boat Haven in the Port Angeles Harbor and at the John Wayne Marina on Sequim Bay.
No other public boat launch in Clallam County charges a fee, Sterling said.
The city staff estimates the fee could generate between $2,000 and $8,000 per year, depending upon boat launch usage, fee compliance and the number of annual passes sold.
“It’s not a big money maker,” Sterling said.
“It’s just to offset maintenance.”
