Boaters May Soon Pay for County Aid

The Orange County Environmental Management Agency is recommending charging boaters $48 an hour for non-emergency help from the Harbor Patrol and ending reduced fees for guest rental of boat slips during the off-season.

“The presence of a fee would lessen ‘convenience’ assistance calls by an average of one per day, reducing the diversion of Harbor Patrol resources from other duties,” said a report by R. J. Novello, EMA director of administration.

Harbor officials elsewhere in the state said that when fees are charged, calls for assistance drop because “members of the boating community are more likely to render aid to each other in non-emergency situations,” Novello said in the report.

Study of Rates

The Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to consider the recommendations next Tuesday, agreed last August to impose or increase fees, but ordered a study of rates. If the board approves the fees, they will take effect June 1.

A major recommendation last August was to start replacing Harbor Patrol sheriff’s deputies with lower-paid and lesser-trained officers, and to report back in six months on the impact of the change.

After three months the idea was dropped. Officials said the savings would be much less than the originally projected $850,000 per year, and boaters complained that the changes would jeopardize safety.

There was no such outcry over the issue of guest rental fees.

The county now has five guest slips at Newport Harbor and 58 at Dana Point Harbor, for which it charges a daily rate of 30 cents per foot between May and September, when stays are limited to 15 days. The fee drops to 20 cents per foot between October and April, and the time limit increases to 60 days.

Off-Season Rates

Novello and EMA Director Ernie Schneider recommended that the off-season rates be ended and that a year-round daily rate be established at 40 cents per foot.

Novello estimated that revenue from non-emergency aid to boaters would be $26,400 per year. Increasing guest rental fees would gross an estimated $92,800 per year, he said.

He also recommended increasing the fee for filming television and movie entertainment shows in the harbors from $300 to $500 per day, which he estimated would net an additional $1,400 per year.

“The movie/TV series featuring marinas as backdrops are no longer in vogue,” Novello said. “Even Marina del Rey, which has had the largest share of movie/TV activity, has reported a considerable drop in filming revenue over the last two years.”