Quote:
Originally Posted by ishoot308
Honestly Dave, I don't see how that would help the current situation. Let's just say for example 20 boats stayed overnight how much would 20 couples actually add to the economy of the Weirs?? The town would probably spend more money policing the boats for time limit violations than what they would bring in....
The Weirs needs drastic change to attract hundreds or even thousands of people. I don't pretend to have the answer but don't think overnight docking is one of them.
Dan
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The idea is not to completely renew the area on just the money brought in by transient slip renters, the idea is to give people a reason to go there; just a little spark to get things going. Once people start going there and spending money, businesses expand which attracts more people (many by car) and more businesses and so forth.
Right now the town gets $0 for the docks and they sit completely void of boats all night, every night. If you pay a couple of college kids 12 bucks an hour to be the "Harbor Master" from 8 AM to noon, then 6 PM to 10 PM you are only spending 96 bucks a day + SS tax and such and you could make that up with one 35 foot boat at 3 bucks a foot (typical weekend rate for a transient slip). During slow periods, you could even do a pay and display system and eliminate the Harbor Master job.
Regardless, my idea makes use of a resource that already exists and is under-utilized with almost no investment. Any revenue from it would be a plus and any extra customers for local businesses are a plus. If it does not work out, there's no meaningful investment wasted. Who knows, maybe the other ports around the lake would follow suit and OUIs could go way down. Imagine if Dan Littlefield could have slept in his boat in Meredith that night...