Boaters using a city-owned ramp on Payette Lake in McCall could be met with a fee this summer.
The McCall City Council heard a plan from Parks and Recreation Director Kurt Wolf to charge a usage fee to the city-owned boat ramp by Mile High Marina.
The fees would help offset the costs of maintenance improvements and management of the boat ramp.
The council was supportive of this plan but many details are still up in the air as nothing has been finalized.
Fee plan
The meeting packet showed what funds generated by charging a $20 fee would look like. But the actual amount isn’t decided – the $20 was an example. In the future, the amount could also vary for residents versus visitors.
Council members and Wolf agreed that it would make the most sense to begin implementing the fees on July 1.
When creating the plan Wolf looked at how other areas charged boat ramp fees, like Hayden Lake in Northern Idaho, Whitefish Montanna, and Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada.
Council Member Mike Maciaszek proposed having an option for a daily fee, an annual pass, a different rate for rental companies, plus a penalty for those who launch without paying.
“You launch your boat, you’ve got your daily or your annual fee. We don’t need to worry about anybody collecting anything. We don’t need to pay staff to be collecting it that way. It’s a responsibility that you have it,” he said.
Discussion included adding video monitoring and seeing if the sheriff’s department would add a permit check to its boat safety check.
This, and a ramp in Ponderosa Park are the only public boat ramps on the lake. People pay to enter the park but there isn’t currently a boat ramp fee.
Wolf said he plans to bring back more fee details so the council can vote during the second meeting in April.
