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Boat storage fees going up: First increase in years

Boat owners who have been able to leave crafts of varying sizes at beaches during summer months for a $15 fee for a two-year permit are in for change of policy.

They are about to see an increase. The Town Board is hiking fees to bring them more in line with costs, and the reality that it’s been many years since the fees have been increased.

A discussion at the Dec. 1 Town Board work session settled on the following costs:

• Those with small boats such as kayaks will be asked to pay $50 per year

• Owners of medium-sized multi-hulled boats are to be assessed $75 per year

• Those with large multi-hulled boats will be assessed $100 per season.

Bay Constable Peter Vielbig suggested increases and the Town Board set the rates.

In recent months, Town Board members struggling to draft a 2021 budget, while keeping taxes as low as possible, began looking more carefully at fees. The result so far has been increases in Building Department services; Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board application costs; and increases in carter fees for materials brought to the town Recycling Center. The cost of town garbage bags is also increasing.

The bottom line for Town Board members is an effort to pass costs to those using specific services instead of spreading them among all taxpayers through property taxes.

Councilman Jim Colligan said revenues are important to the town and it’s necessary to look at the fair market value for various services.

Councilman Albert Dickson asked his colleagues if existing or suggested increases are enough to cover costs.

Deputy Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams said she’s not a fan of a lot of boats being left on beaches and said if the increases resulted in fewer people storing their crafts on beaches, that might not be a bad thing.

Supervisor Gerry Siller said he didn’t think the new fee schedule would be overly burdensome. But resident Susan Williams said there are people on the Island with low incomes who would find it difficult to pay more. Noting that she paid only $50 for each of two kayaks she owns, she doesn’t have a vehicle to transport a boat back and forth between her house and the beach and would find it a burden to pay a higher fee. She said the supervisor was insensitive to those who can’t afford such increases.

Similarly, her neighbor and friend, Brian Dolphin, said he sees a difference in treatment of residents who are affluent and those who are not.

Mr. Siller denied that he was being insensitive.

West Neck Water System

Lisa Shaw, a member of the Board of the West Neck Water System, told Town Board members those operating the system are seeking assistance with legal costs. At issue for West Neck Water is that on occasion a customer threatens to sue. Members wonder if there’s a way for the town to assist, should a suit ever come to fruition.

Town Attorney Bob DeStefano Jr. said the town would take up such a case.

He said he would explore the possibility of incorporating some language into the town’s irrigation law that would apply to legal assistance.