The South Haven City Council is looking into the possibility of a service fee to pay for a lifeguard program at city beaches.
At the council’s regular meeting on Monday, the body was asked to approve what would have been a renewal of the city’s contract with concessionaires at South Beach and North Beach. City Manager Kate Hosier wanted the renewals, with some amendments, approved so the vendors have certainty about next year and can make investments in new equipment. However, council member Joe Reeser had an idea.
“Is it possible for us to approve the concessions to add a percentage to each bill, each sale — let’s say 5% — to go towards beach safety? In other words, if we’re going to have lifeguards, can we start to put any kind of fee on these concession stands, which will also help defer the cost of a lifeguard?”
The city attorney said he would have to look into that.
Council member Letitia Wilkins said putting a surcharge on concessions didn’t seem fair to her.
“Because all the tourists are not going to use the concession stand,” Wilkins said. “It just seems like if we want to have some type of surcharge that it would be part of some type of tourism — I don’t know how that will work.”
Reeser said the fee could simply be on top of whatever the concessions would normally cost, suggesting part of it could stay with the vendor for the cost of implementation.
City Manager Hosier urged passage of the contract as presented because she said the concessionaires provide a valuable service to the city maintaining the restroom facilities. However, the council voted down the contract and its amendments until they hear back from the attorney on Reeser’s fee idea.
Mayor Annie Brown said voting down the contract wasn’t fair to the vendors, adding she was disappointed council introduced a surprise matter into something that should have been routine. On a four to three vote, she was outnumbered.
