Public fishing facilities in Kenai are struggling to stay in the black; the Council Wednesday night amended the current rates for boats and trailers acceding the Personal Use fishery via the City Dock.
Vice Mayor Brian Gabriel’s proposal to increase daily trailer parking/boat launching from $25 to $40 was too steep for most councilors, but a slim majority approved a rise to $35.
Cm. Marquis: “Some of the rationale is that it’s little impact to the local residents, because most of the people that participate here aren’t local. But I get concerned that what we’re trying to do is limit the people that use the fishery based on price.”
That was councilor Ryan Marquis, who said the fee will likely target the wrong sector of the fishery…
Cm. Marquis: “Some of the larger, more expensive boats are actually causing more of the wake and more of the hazards down there, not the smaller boats like the boat that I’ve dip netted on. I think that by increasing the fees, that’s going to be less of an impact on the people that have the bigger, more expensive boats, and that’s going to make the river more exclusive to them than the rest of us.”
Vice Mayor Gabriel insisted a state-mandated fishery should not bu subsidized so heavily by Kenai residents who effectively sponsor the event through their property taxes.
City Manager Rick Koch said the Administration’s motivation for raising fees was to offset the cost of the new”no wake” zone implemented on a portion of the river to protect private property. Buoys and hardware to mark the zone cost over $20,000 to install and maintain, plus an additional $20,000 to enforce.
