Local News in Brief : Talks Approved in Wharf Dispute

The Avalon City Council has given city officials approval to negotiate with two cruise ship companies and a local ship-to-shore taxi service about who should pay wharfage fees for use of Avalon Harbor facilities by cruise ship passengers.

The taxi service, Island Navigation Co., ferries passengers to Avalon when cruise ships are anchored in the harbor. None of the three businesses pays the $1.20 per passenger round-trip wharfage fee charged to all cross-channel transportation companies that use harbor facilities.

City officials calculate that fees from the cruise passengers could bring the city as much as $150,000 annually.

Officials at both cruise ship companies have said they oppose paying the fee because their contract with Island Navigation stipulated that all fees would be worked out between Island Navigation and the city.

Island Navigation said it should not be responsible for the fees since it already pays a $15,000 annual wharfage fee to run the ferry service.

Mayor Hugh T. (Bud) Smith said that city officials have discussed the dispute in recent months with the taxi service and the cruise lines, Admiral Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines, and hope to reach an agreement by January.

The Admiral ship, the Azure Seas, and Norwegian’s vessel, the Southward, anchor at the mouth of Avalon Harbor twice a week.

The wharfage fee for all users of the harbor facilities, including shuttle services that now pay the $1.20 fee, will increase in January to $1.50 per passenger for each round trip.

The City Council voted last July to begin collecting fees to cover the visits of cruise ship passengers in July, 1989.