City of Powell River Council has given its first three readings to amending the north harbour rates and regulations bylaw.
According to a report from chief financial officer Adam Langenmaier, moorage rates for the north harbour have not been updated since 2015, and prior to this, the last update was 2011. Langenmaier stated in his report that the current rates will not support ongoing operating costs and capital costs of the harbour and will require either significant future rate increases or subsidy from city taxpayers.
Langenmaier’s report states that the rate increase proposed reflects a five per cent increase over the 2015 moorage rates. If adopted, moorage rates would increase in 2021.
At the December 3 city council meeting, councillor George Doubt said the bylaw provides a new schedule for fees and charges for the north harbour. He said the change, for example, for a 16- to 27-foot boat would go to a rate of $5.67 per foot per month, and for a 39-foot or larger boat, it would go to $7.09 per foot per month.
“That will be taking place next year,” said Doubt. “When this motion was passed through the committee of the whole, staff was instructed to review north harbour rates and look at future changes to that.”
Councillor Jim Palm said the amendment, if passed, would bring an extra $30,000 into city coffers. He said for smaller craft, the city used to have three-month or six-month rates. He asked if that was still in effect or if there was just an annual fee.
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said the bylaw is also broken down into a semi-annual rate.
Mayor Dave Formosa said in the south harbour there are also daily, weekly and monthly rates.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway said she received an email and she understands that boats in the harbour are not required to have insurance. She asked if the city would be looking at that when looking at the bylaw down the road.
Formosa said it’s good to take note and look at other marinas to see what they do about it, and whether they make sure every boat has insurance.
Doubt said he saw the same correspondence Hathaway had received and was surprised boaters could have moorage and not have insurance on a boat. He said he’s had boats before in salt water and he was always required to provide proof of insurance.
“The marina was always very careful to make sure it was up to date,” said Doubt.
Councillor Rob Southcott said he is a boater and has a boat in the north harbour. He said this is one of the only harbours that doesn’t require insurance. He added that he thinks Powell River is lucky to have this facility.
Southcott said he wanted to make mention of one point in the letter because there may be a misconception that the harbour is tax-subsidized. He said it is one of the facilities in the city that is revenue positive.
“It is not tax-subsidized and that was a big issue about 10 years ago, before the harbour was rebuilt,” said Southcott. “It was rebuilt on the condition that it would not be subsidized. There was quite a lot of concern about that in the community so I wanted to mention that publicly.
“This five per cent raise in five years is reasonably generous. As our mayor mentioned in the committee of the whole meeting, this is a very valuable resource that can benefit the city fiscally as well.”
