JOYCE — One candidate for a Port of Port Angeles commission seat says she sides with a citizens committee’s proposal to cut rates at the Boat Haven marina.

Her opponent favors raising fees with the Consumer Price Index, known as the CPI.

Committee frustration

Connie Beauvais, speaking prior to a Tuesday night candidate forum at the Crescent Grange, said committee members were frustrated that port employees had spurned their recommendation.

Her opponent, Mike Breidenbach, did not attend the Joyce forum due to a family crisis but said Wednesday he thought the Boat Haven’s rates were “maybe just a hair low.”

Either Beauvais or Breidenbach will replace Commissioner John Calhoun, who is not running for re-election to the District 3 seat, after the Nov. 3 general election. Calhoun wants to raise rates and not subsidize the marina.

Commissioners will decide the question Oct. 27, but Beauvais if elected could join with Commissioner Colleen McAleer, who opposed a fee increase, to reset rates in 2016.

Commissioner Jim Hallett favors a rate hike.

The issue was the primary topic at Tuesday morning’s commission meeting.

There, citizens committee chairman William Spring said port employees compared the Boat Haven only to marinas that charge more per foot of moorage and ignored three marinas — Kingston, Brownsville and Shelton — that charge less.

The staff’s choices included Olympia, Bellingham, Anacortes, Everett and Westport.

Stop ‘hemorrhaging’

Reducing rates, Spring said, would stop what he described as a “hemorrhaging” of boats from the Port Angeles marina, often to be moored on trailers in their owners’ driveways.

The staff recommended raising rates nearer to pricier marinas or floating the fees 1 percent above the CPI, a suggestion by Bst Associates, the consultant port commissioners paid $37,600 to for a parallel study to the citizens committee.

Although a current, temporary rate reduction in 2014 and 2015 boosted occupancy 6.2 percent, it reduced revenue 7.9 percent — $51,343 — said Jerry Ludke, the port’s airport and marina manager.

The reduction followed several years of increases that financed Boat Haven improvements, Spring said.

Although the Boat Haven turned a profit in 2015, Ludke credited that to transient boats that pay premium rates and to a large commercial fishing fleet.

The Boat Haven charges $6.21 per foot for a 20-foot uncovered slip, including a 12.84 percent leasehold excise tax.

Spring urged commissioners to adopt a two-year trial of rates at $4.75 per foot for boats less than 40 feet — a 23.5 percent decrease — $5.75 per foot for larger craft.

His proposal also includes a month’s free moorage — another 8 percent — for boaters who sign yearlong leases.

The state auditor, however, would disallow that, said Karen Goschen, the port’s finance director.

Port of Kingston rates

The Port of Kingston Marina charges $5.41 per foot for uncovered moorage.

Asked how it can charge so little, Goschen said, “They’ll have big increases when they have to replace infrastructure.”

Marinas surveyed by Bst Associates averaged $8.62 per foot for a 20-foot boat, $9.42 per foot for longer craft.

Tying rates to the CPI plus 1 percent would boost them 2.8 percent, according to the port’s figures, or roughly 17 cents per foot for a 20-foot boat.

At Joyce, Beauvais said she didn’t feel boat owners felt entitled to a subsidy but were exasperated that their studies had been discounted.

Call for a meeting

She called for a face-to-face meeting among port employees, commissioners and committee members.

For his part, Breidenbach said the issue underlying rates was “the quality of the service and what’s available at the site.”

The Boat Haven provides 24-hour security, Wi-Fi, parking, water and electricity.

Planned capital improvements for 2016 include more dock carts, repaved parking, a phone kiosk, a Clallam Transit bus stop, a $100,000 laundry facility, west boat launch improvements, a $150,000 fuel tank and $95,000 fuel float, and improved control of dust from the adjacent log yard.

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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.