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County discusses higher park rates, online booking fees and lagoon testing as park revenue rises but cleanup costs remain
Summary
Park staff proposed modest rate increases and flagged that third-party online booking fees would raise customer costs; commissioners also discussed spending carryover to test and dispose of lagoon material and to install a donated dock.
County park staff presented recommended rate increases for campgrounds and cabins and raised concerns about third-party online booking fees that would add per-transaction costs to customers.
Sherry Levin, park manager, showed a sample pricing scenario for online camping and said some payment-processing arrangements would add nontrivial fees for customers. "This is what your online camping is going to cost these people to pay," Levin said, explaining that third-party processing and platform fees could add roughly $3.50 plus a percent-based credit-card fee to each transaction. She recommended staff gather multiple quotes and consider using the park’s existing VinTech pay station for some transactions to avoid per-transaction fees that can discourage users.
Levin proposed modest nightly rate increases — generally $1 per night on many campsite categories and a larger increase on peak holiday rates for cabins — and asked commissioners whether to proceed with online booking pilots or to limit online payments to camping only and keep on-site or VinTech options for parking and boat slips.
Park staff and commissioners also discussed long-running landfill/lagoon work that affects park projects. County engineering and public-works staff said the county needs to test material in a small park lagoon to determine whether it can be reused on site as cover material; if the tests show contaminants the county would need an alternate disposal plan. Sean West, public works administrator, asked for authority to get samples and bids for testing. "I'm asking to go out and bring prices back to you," he said. Commissioners agreed staff should solicit testing costs to determine whether lagoon material can be reused.
Sherry Levin and county finance staff proposed moving some end-of-year park overage into dedicated reserves: $10,000 for the lagoon testing/maintenance fund, $6,000 to install a donated dock, and the remainder into special equipment or vehicle replacement. County finance staff said transfers to set money aside could be made by year-end.
Levin also updated the board on cabin rentals, marina operations and maintenance issues such as pest intrusion and aging facilities. She said the park has generated year-to-date net gains compared with prior years but cautioned that one-time lagoon cleanup costs and capital needs remain.
The board asked staff to return next week with finalized rate changes, cost quotes for online-booking options (split out by service type), electricity-cost details for long-term campground occupants and line-item proposals for proposed year-end transfers into park reserves.
