Three boat owners appeared before City of Powell River’s committee of the whole, urging restraint on proposed increases in north harbour moorage rates.
At the July 5 committee of the whole meeting, councillors heard from Brian Kyle, Terry Webster and Ken Kolba, all of whom voiced opposition to a proposed harbour rate bylaw, introduced at the June 23 finance committee meeting.
Kyle said he had a request that council create a standing harbour committee where the city can gather and share ideas about its three harbours.
“An officially sanctioned committee like this would have time to drill into many of the details this kind of forward planning uncovers,” said Kyle. “Any plan should account for all our harbours. I believe if a plan is developed for one, it should be designed and augmented for all three, so issues are considered at once with greatest benefit and synergy.
“The draft bylaw is not complete enough and should be returned with a request to incorporate a more fulsome plan for all three harbours.”
Kyle said costs are going up and it’s expected, however, that the increases proposed over the first three years of the bylaw are shocking and will not help boat owners or businesses that depend on them.
The bylaw proposes, in 2023, 2024 and 2025, a minimum 15 per cent increase in moorage, with proposed surcharges depending on the boatowners’ places of residency, plus the elimination of the seniors discount. It was stated at the finance committee meeting that the increases would bring north harbour rates more in line with Discovery Harbour in Campbell River, which was deemed a comparable facility.
Kyle said Discovery Harbour is a private entity, so it is not comparable to the north harbour, which is owned by the city.
“Increases should parallel property taxes, which, I’m told, average 4.1 per cent,” he added.
Kyle said he supported the removal of the seniors discount, as proposed in the bylaw. He also supports the proposal for liability insurance.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said what she heard from Kyle was for the city to come up with a process and bylaw that is a little more collaborative with the boaters.
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said such an initiative would be a consideration of council to establish a committee if it so chooses. He said it would be tricky to get it running and established in time to inform potential rate increases for January 2023, when the proposed bylaw is to take effect.
Councillor George Doubt said the bylaw was on the agenda for the July 7 council meeting, but was not on the agenda to be adopted. He said one of the steps is the first three readings of the bylaw. The adoption would happen at some later date after more discussion.
Facing increase
Webster said because she is a senior, and lives in qathet, she would be facing a 36 per cent increase in one year.
She said when the cumulative impacts of the proposed increases are added, it totals more than 100 per cent for seniors living in the qathet region by 2025, and “this is totally unaffordable.”
Webster said none of the other municipal harbours on the coast that were part of the survey were selected for comparison purposes. She said there are two other municipal harbours on the list and local moorage rates compare favourably. By 2025, if she moored at Comox municipal harbour, she said she would be paying a monthly fee of $8 a foot, compared to $12 at the north harbour, which is 50 per cent more.
“Powell River is a working-class, seaside community, where historically, the ability to enjoy the sea has been accessible to most residents,” said Webster. “These rate changes will ensure this is no longer the case, displacing those on the lower end of the income spectrum.”
She asked that council not implement the draft bylaw, but amend it so the 11 per cent senior discount ends, and to add an additional 4.1 per cent to mirror the city tax increase.
Kolba said he moors a 36-foot boat in the north harbour, and if the bylaw goes through, he will be facing a $719 increase in 2023, $1,196 in 2024 and in 2025, $1,744.
Kolba said there is no rush to adopt the bylaw, there’s time to more carefully consider the proposals and impacts, and to seek input from the affected user group. He said north harbour rates are lower than those found in commercial harbours, but are higher than three of the five other municipal harbours.
According to Kolba, local government has an obligation to maintain affordability for the community it serves.
“There seems to be an assumption that boat owners are an affluent group and will simply write the cheque and carry on,” said Kolba. “That applies to some, but not the majority. There will be those who simply can’t make it work.
“I urge you to suspend further consideration of the proposed bylaw pending formal notification of the affected individuals, a more thorough analysis of options, their impacts on your neighbours and a conversation with the user group.”
Consideration of the first three readings of the proposed north harbour rates and regulations bylaw is on the July 7 city council meeting agenda.
