By Roger Bloom | NB Indy
Following a long and contentious hearing and debate at its last meeting on raising mooring fees, the City Council will walk into a special meeting Tuesday night to talk about … raising mooring fees.
Only this time, the Council is eyeing the fees charged by the city for the three apartments, 31 garages and 176 slips and side ties at the Balboa Yacht Basin.
It is the next step in the Council’s effort to review and adjust to market rate all the mooring and related fees in the Harbor.
Last month’s contentious meeting was about fees charged at the city’s onshore and offshore mooring fields, which had not been raised since 1996.
The Yacht Basin fees were last adjusted in 2002.
A three-member ad hoc council committee is recommending that the full Council raise the mooring fees in the Basin by 20 percent to 73 percent by 2013, depending on the size of the boat involved.
Similar increases are proposed for the apartments and garages.
The mooring fee increases would be pegged to an index of rates at seven low- to moderately priced private marinas in the Harbor, and so could be variable depending on market conditions each year.
However, the city staff projects that the price per foot for mooring at the BYB will increase from $18 to $21.51 for boats in the 30-to-39-foot range, $19 to $29.85 for boats in the 40s, $23 to $31.50 for boats in the 50s, and $23 to $39.72 for larger boats up to 75 feet.
Meanwhile, rents at the three apartments on the site will rise to $2,250 by 2013, from the current $1,700 to $2,000 monthly, and the garage rates will go from $200 per month to $325 monthly.
Although the number of moorings involved is much smaller this time, and the council committee met with Basin boaters twice and revised its proposal based on their comments, the meeting is still expected to draw a sizeable – and displeased – crowd.
It also will be the final, final meeting for Councilman Don Webb, who was prevented by the city’s term limits from running for reelection this year and will be replaced on the Council by Rush Hill at the Dec. 14 regular meeting.
The Nov. 23 meeting was considered to have been Webb’s swan song until the special meeting was called for next Tuesday.
