BELFAST – For years the city has charged a nominal rate for slips at Thompson’s Wharf pier with priority given to renters from previous years. Last week both of those practices came under scrutiny by members of the City Council and the fee schedule was sent back to committee.

The Harbor Committee proposed changing the rate from a variable, per slip amount to a flat per-foot fee of $70. The change, according to Harbor Master Katherine Pickering would have no effect on the overall cost for some current boat owners, but for at least one would amount to a 67-percent increase.

Over the winter the city rebuilt the floating dock, which is located in the inner harbor between two properties owned by Front Street Shipyard. The new version has the potential of 12 seasonal and three charter boat slips, as compared with 10 and two, respectively, on the old dock. 

Discussion on the Council focused on the difference between a mid-range seasonal rate at Thompson’s Wharf as compared with the same at two private facilities: Front Street Shipyard and the Consumers Fuel docks in the outer harbor. Under the proposed fees, a boat that would cost $5,200 to dock at Front Street Shipyard would cost $2,800 to tie up at Thompson’s Wharf. 

Pickering noted, and the Council acknowledged, that the Shipyard offers more services, but the view among the four councilors present—Councilor Mike Hurley was absent from the meeting—was that the city’s rate was still too low. Councilor Nancy Hamilton urged for some calculation of the differences that would allow an informed judgment about how much to go up, possibly including comparisons with other facilities along the coast.

Several councilors said they did not want the city to be undercutting private businesses with rates that were too low. Some, including Councilor Roger Lee, contended that the city may be subsidizing cheap slips for boat owners who have held on to them year after year.

“Who is benefitting?” he said. “People who have been there?” Lee said he didn’t see the fairness in a system like that. He and others acknowledged that boat owners with less money could get squeezed out, but said that wasn’t relevant to Thompson’s Wharf fees and preference, which are not based on income.

“We have an inexpensive way to have a boat in the harbor,” he said. “We have moorings for 60 bucks.”

City Manager Joe Slocum floated the possibility of a lottery for slips, but the idea didn’t appeal to the Council.

“Then you would be just like literally having a lottery,” Lee said. “You win, a cheaper price in Belfast.”

Speaking on Friday, Pickering said, there are around three people who have rented the same slips at Thompson’s Wharf for over 10 years, with the rest having been there a shorter period. Usually one or two spots turn over each year and are filled from a waiting list, she said.

As far as finding a rationale for a new fee, Pickering said there aren’t many municipally-owned docks for rent Thompson’s Wharf in other coastal towns. Prices also increase substantially to the south and fall off sharply to the north, making comparisons with neighboring towns not very useful, she said.

“It’ll be a good conversation for the Harbor Committee,” she said.

Committee members will be reviewing their original fee recommendation when they meet Monday, May 12, at 4 p.m., City Hall.

Pickering said the question will likely to come back before the Council on May 20.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com