Mooring overnight in the Channel (Lake Havasu)

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Council to mull mooring
Overnight docking on channel could bring in revenue

By Tony Waggoner
Saturday, February 14, 2009 10:53 PM MST

A new proposal allowing the mooring of boats overnight at the
Bridgewater Channel on weekends over the summer could bring in some
additional revenue for improvements to the channel through fees
associated with the program.

The Lake Havasu City Council will hold a work session Tuesday to discuss the possibility of allowing boats to beach overnight.

The Lake Havasu City Marine Association will make an official proposal
to the council. The proposal comes as a way to generate additional
revenue for the Bridgewater Channel.

Overnight mooring reservations would take place from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
at a cost of $50 per night on regular weekends and $100 per night for
major weekends, including Labor Day, Memorial Day, Desert Storm and
July Fourth. The “Rent a Ring” program would run from April 23 through
Labor Day. The marine association has proposed establishing a Web site
for reservations through a Pay Pal account.

The Developmental Services Department estimates if all 200 rings are sold, more than $500,000 in revenues could be raised.

The marine association predicts a 60 percent fill rate for normal
summer weekends. During the holiday weekends, they estimate
reservations for 100 percent of the rings.

Estimated total gross revenue for the program is between $396,000 and $450,000 at full capacity.

The rings or mooring areas would be available to the general public outside of the reservation period between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

There are approximately 400 rings along the channel area. The 200 available rings begin in Thompson Bay.

The marine association suggests a private security company be used to
police the area, and have obtained quotes from two licensed and bonded
security firms. A packet supplied to the council indicates both firms
projected the use of four guards would be in the $50,000 range each
night. Registrations and patrol services would be supplied all night.

The city is stressing the program would not take away from any of the existing uses of the rings at the Bridgewater Channel.

As the city works to bring in additional revenue, the application of
this program is focused strictly on providing additional revenue and
increasing boating on Lake Havasu during the summer months.

Revenue from the program is expected to help fund dock projects,
dredging of the channel, cleaning of the beaches, extending the parking
lot north of Lions Dog Park, and making various improvements to Site 6,
including repaving and possibly changing the slope of the current ramp
and adding additional parking.

The fees applied to beaching overnight should cover Police Department
and Parks and Recreation Department expenses associated with the
program.

City staff has stated this program would help boaters to not have to
place their boats on trailers nightly and face an overcrowded launch
ramp daily at dusk.

Since the meeting is a work session, the council cannot vote for or against the program.

The work session will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m., inside the Council
Chambers at the Police Facility. The meeting is open to the public.

The item would have to be placed on a regular meeting council agenda.

Guest

Whats the latest on this? anyone know

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Council denies overnight mooring

By TONY WAGGONER
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:44 PM MST

The
Rent-A-Ring program was a program the Lake Havasu Marine Association
said would bring additional revenue into the city for improvements to
the Bridgewater Channel, but mooring along the channel won’t be
happening anytime soon, after the City Council voted Tuesday to
presently deny the program.

The council voted 6-1 at Tuesday’s
regular meeting to deny overnight mooring on weekends and major
holidays during the summer season, but they did not rule it out for the
future.

The program was viewed as too great a liability for the
City Council and city, which faced the possibility of losing its
recreational immunity defense if it passed.

A matter of risk
versus reward, Mayor Mark Nexsen said the program was not something he
would bet on with his own money right now. Nexsen said he would not
feel comfortable risking taxpayers’ dollars.

Development
Services Director Larry Didion provided the council a breakdown of the
cost for the program that included, among other expenses, marketing of
the program, approximately $26,000; administrative costs, $17,640;
security, approximately $60,000; and a $10,000 contingency, which would
be used for the program if it were not spent. Didion said the total
cost of the program would be around $116,000, but the city could
anticipate that figure to change in the second year, as it grew.

Revenue
generated would depend on the occupancy rate, Didion said. At 50
percent occupancy, Didion said the city would begin to lose money. A 60
percent occupancy rate would create a little revenue. If all 70 rings
were rented over a 32-week period, the city could generate
approximately $196,000 in total revenue.

“It does have the potential to generate funds,” Didion said.

Nexsen
also said the initial revenue expected from the program was far
greater, near a half-million dollars, than what would now be
anticipated, and with questions of liability from the city’s insurance
carrier, the risk could be too great.

A 90 percent occupancy
rate of all 70 available rings for the program could bring in more than
$50,000 in net revenue. Revenue generated would have gone into the cost
of operating the program. Excess revenue would go into a special fund
to be used for channel improvements and upkeep.

Residents in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting were split on the program.

“Without (State Lake Improvement Funds) this is one of the best ways to get revenue in the channel,” resident Carl Flusche said.

Flusche asked the council to consider having renters sign a waiver that would exempt the city of liability.

City
Attorney Paul Lenkowsky said he did not believe a waiver would exempt
the city from its responsibility of any damages or accidents at the
channel or in the nearby parking structure where boaters would keep
their motor vehicles. Lenkowsky stated a judge could decide a plaintiff
may have a case, which would cost taxpayer dollars to defend in court.

Resident
Chuck Fein expressed concern regarding how the city would prevent false
reports of accidents or damage, as well as how it would address
advertising for the program when the general fund is already stretched
thin.

City resident Chuck Vaughn asked the council to consider
all the facets of the program before voting on it. Vaughn said he
wasn’t against the program, but stated there could be too much risk,
considering the program only offers the possibility of revenue.

Still,
the program could have paid for improvements to some areas along the
channel in great need, Jim Salscheider, head of the marine association
told the council. Salscheider pointed out a number of docks were in
dire need of improvements at the channel. He said several docks were
barely holding together, and the instability of those docks could lead
to serious injury, for which the city would be held liable.

A
decision to bring back the proposal with revisions could come by
October. The council approved City Manager Richard Kaffenberger
researching the Rent-A-Ring program as a future revenue generator.

Is Lake Havasu RETARDED? They have absolutely killed the tourism money they get from spring break through summer...Im confused why they do this...Ive been there and had a blast...but now..its deadl.

Its not dead this year. Spring Break was very busy and still is. To my surprise for the most part people were well behaved too.

yeah but the fun involved the naked women and the wild parties...soo...how is it now?

Plumber wrote:: yeah but the fun involved the naked women and the wild parties...soo...how is it now?

This was from a few weeks ago.
http://funinhavasu.homestead.com/CopperCanyonPics.html