Council pauses on changes to boat-launch discounts and paid-parking plan; staff to gather more data

Director Sarah Garso presented the city’s boat-launch pass program and a separate paid-parking proposal for lakeside parks at the March 17 workshop. "This is the actual sale data from last year. We sold a total of 213 passes and received $15,030 from our passes last year," she said, and clarified the resident discount is $15 (resident price $60 vs full price $75), correcting a typo in the slide.

Garso explained current practice: residents can purchase an annual pass in person or via CivicRec to get the resident price; kiosk sales at the ramp do not validate a resident discount. She summarized comparables (nearby cities and county programs) and said some customers who bought kiosk passes could not be identified as residents in the records.

On revenue modeling, staff showed scenarios that assumed some kiosk buyers would have qualified for resident discounts; in one scenario applying more discounts would reduce the reported $15,030 to $14,445. Garso stressed boat-launch infrastructure is expensive — "I imagine it's gonna be no less than $3,000,000 when we need to replace a single boat launch" — and outlined parks' cost-recovery philosophy: community benefits should be subsidized but exclusive or high-cost facilities (like boat launches or specialized docks) may be appropriate to charge for.

Garso then presented a separate high-level analysis of charging for parking at lakeside parks (Lundeen, North Cove, Millspur, Swim Beach, Sunset). Staff counted 194 chargeable spaces across those sites, modeled peak/off-peak use and assumed a $5 daily fee. Using those assumptions the model projected about $233,000 in gross revenue but estimated net annual revenue of roughly $33,000 after enforcement, transaction and administrative costs; startup year costs would leave a roughly $60,000 deficit.

Council members raised objections and questions: some said a parks parking fee would create a barrier for low-income families and seniors and asked whether nonresident-only fees would be enforceable; others said nonresident fees could be a fair user charge. Concerns focused on enforcement logistics and cost, including the need to staff a CSO (community service officer) with a dedicated vehicle (startup vehicle cost and equipment), whether license-plate or sticker systems might reduce cost, and how to define the geographic boundary for resident eligibility.

Multiple council members expressed unwillingness to charge residents to use parks and worried the math did not justify the program. Several asked staff to look at lower-cost enforcement options (plate-check database, used vehicles for CSO) and to gather more accurate counts through summer observation. The council’s informal consensus was to pause any immediate change: staff recommended waiting for two years of post-policy data (including the discontinuation of the Discover Pass) and to bring a follow-up report in February 2027 or earlier if warranted.

"If you were to go to this paid program... it would take you 2 or 3 years to start making money," Garso said. The council directed staff to refine cost estimates, investigate lower-cost enforcement options and collect summer usage data before returning to the issue.