The cost of using Petersburg’s harbors goes up next month.
Petersburg’s borough assembly Monday approved a five percent increase to moorage rates as well as hikes for many of the other fees. It’s the latest in a series of rate hikes for borough services.
Vice mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor spoke in favor of it at Monday’s assembly meeting.
“No one likes seeing their fees go up, I’m no different but we have very, very functional and effective harbor here and this plan has been thoroughly vetted by both the harbor master and the harbor board and hopefully this can be another step in keeping our harbors at the high level that we’ve come to expect,” Stanton Gregor said.
The harbor department has pushed for higher rates to help cover costs of doing business. The cost for both long term and temporary moorage will be going up. The ordinance approved by the assembly also charges more for boats larger than 90 feet long that are not involved in commercial fishing. It will mean higher costs for cruise ships to dock here and for mariners to use the grids and cranes, live onboard in the harbors and launch boats on the ramp.
It was a 6-0 vote to approve that change in third and final reading Monday with mayor Mark Jensen not at the meeting. The new rates take effect April 1st.
