---

---

Commissioners discussed punitive measures and new payment kiosks after learning revenue from the Crescent City Harbor’s public boat launch dropped by about $400 last year.

The port’s facilities manager, Mike Baker, on Tuesday brought forth the idea of replacing the existing pay station with a kiosk from VenTek International that accepts credit and debit cards.

But after Commissioner Wes White mentioned that the port would get a negative return on its investment if it installed a VenTek system, the Crescent City Harbor Board of Commissioners chose to table the issue. Baker suggested keeping things status quo for roughly a year so he could determine if the drop in revenue was a one-time occurrence.

“I’m not saying I love this thing right now because I recognize it’s not cheap,” Baker told commissioners. “But I got all the information I could for us.”

According to Baker, the revenue generated by the public boat launch doubled between 2016-17 and 2017-18, increasing by about $1,877. But between 2017-18 and 2018-19, revenue dropped by $379. Taking that as a “red flag,” Baker brought up VenTek as an option to keep that revenue from decreasing.

According to Baker, when he asked company representatives what the cumulative annual fees would be for one pay station and two access gates, he said he was told there is a $95 monthly fee. This includes a digital cellular fee, a fee for recording data and processing payment cards and a processing fee for VenTek itself.

There would additional fees for installing the system and for training on how it works, Baker said. He noted that a company representative said a different firm installs access gates, however, Baker said, he was told that there would be more maintenance and more downtime associated with those gates.

Though he doesn’t know exactly how much the Crescent City Harbor could recoup in lost revenue by installing a VenTek system, Baker said he was told that port officials could expect a minimum 20 percent increase in revenue.

Baker said he also spoke with the Port of Brookings Harbor, which had favorable results when installing their automated payment system in 2014.

“They told Charlie (Helms) and myself that they never looked back,” Baker said, referring to the Crescent City harbormaster. “It’s been a great asset for them. They’re our neighbor and if they had that kind of impact, I think we can anticipate a similar response here.”

Baker said he’s also confident that the Port of Brookings would loan the Crescent City Harbor its wheel boots to “make a statement for those who continue to not pay.”

Wes White’s colleague, Commissioner Brian Stone, said payment at the public boat launch is on the honor system. Enforcing payment at the launch is something the port has been lax on, Stone said.

“Part of this question comes to the point of OK, they get it, print it out, park their vehicle and put a sticker in the window,” he said, “we’re still going ot have to maintain security to go through on a half-hour or hourly basis.”

Baker said the system would allow harbor staff to track the times people pay their fees and flag trailers belonging to those who haven’t paid.

“The way we’d roll it out would be a little at a time,” he said. “If by the drop-dead date, your vehicle’s here and you forgot to have it up or have last week’s sticker… we can boot their vehicle so they can’t be moved.”

VenTek International also offers other options, including a license plate reader, Baker said.

In response to Wes White’s question about a return on investment, Baker said he didn’t have all the answers.

“I keep falling back on they say a minimum return is 25 percent,” he said. “Brookings rants and raves (about theirs) and I don’t think Brookings has that many more launches.”

Commissioner Rick Shepherd, however, Brookings has hundreds and hundreds of boats launching in the summer.

“The cost of this is awfully high,” Shepherd said about the VenTek system. “I really like the presentation. I thought it was a great idea until I got to the cost.”

Shepherd suggested tabling the item until Baker could provide more information.

---

SHARE →