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Recreation staff proposes small marina fee adjustments to boost mooring take‑up and align tournament charges
Summary
Recreation department presented proposed adjustments to seasonal slip and mooring rates, including removing a monthly mooring line item, lowering seasonal rented mooring fees to $4.50 to encourage use, and modestly increasing tournament field fees to match regional comparators; council discussion raised questions about metering and comparators.
A recreation department representative told the council on Sept. 9 that the department is proposing modest changes to marina and field fees intended to increase utilization and align tournament charges with nearby communities.
The presenter said the department proposes removing the monthly municipal mooring line item because it has had no customers for several years and lowering the seasonal mooring rate for city‑owned moorings from $7.50 to $4.50 to encourage users. "We are the only people on this side of the lake that do that. We have a lot of inquiries, and we don't have any takers," the presenter said, explaining the rationale for a lower seasonal rental rate.
The recreation representative also proposed increasing tournament fees to bring the city more in line with comparators such as Hyde Park, which charges about $100 per field for tournaments. The presenter said earlier marketing efforts — including campaigns to southern markets — had increased business and the department did not want to "price ourselves out of the market."
Council members asked whether boat power pedestals are metered; staff said slips with power are priced higher as part of the slip rental and are not separately metered per boat, although commercial users that winter in port are billed via a commercial meter. The council did not record a formal vote on fee schedule changes in the meeting transcript; the item was presented for council consideration.
No formal ordinance or fee schedule change was adopted at the meeting; the department asked the council to consider the proposed adjustments as part of its fee schedule review.
