LAKEPORT — Water Resources Director Scott De Leon briefed local business agents who issue quagga mussel stickers to boaters on Thursday evening.
De Leon presented a briefing on how the boat screening and inspection program will change in 2011. He said that starting on Jan. 1 the present colored bands will be replaced with a blue and white sticker for out-of-county boats and a purple sticker for resident boats.
The nonresident boats will still have to be screened or inspected monthly and the resident sticker will be good for the calendar year. The price for both nonresident and nonresident stickers will remain at $10. The county receives $7 and the local agents receive $3.
De Leon told the group the annual cost to administer the mussel prevention program will be approximately $80,000 to $110,000. He said that he estimates that there will be about 7,000 nonresident boats and 4,200 resident boats that will be issued stickers in 2011, which will add up to a revenue to the county of approximately $78,400. He added that he hopes to make up the difference by asking Yolo County to contribute $20,000.
Originally, De Leon proposed the sticker fee be raised to $15 with the county receiving $10 and agents getting $5, but several owners of local businesses said they would prefer the sticker price to remain at $10 to avoid scaring away out-of-county boaters.
Ed Clarke, owner of Tackle It in Lakeport, said that he was against any fee increases. He said that with the slow economy, tourism is already at a low point in the county and even the slightest raise in the sticker fee would send the wrong message to boaters. Dave Brabec, owner of Clear Lake Outdoors, agreed with Clarke and urged the county not to raise the sticker fees. De Leon then said he would stick with the current $10 fee.
De Leon also told the group that the county would reclaim the decontamination station that had been loaned to the City of Lakeport and county personnel would do the decontamination of boats that were determined to be at risk of mussel infestation. He said the county would do the decontamination at no charge to the boaters.
De Leon said that he has recommended that the penalty for a boater being cited and convicted for not having a current sticker be raised to a misdemeanor with the minimum fine being $1,000. Currently the fine is $100. He also told the group that starting in 2011 the screening and inspection process will be tightened up and any boat that comes from an infected county will be required to go through a thorough inspection to ensure that it”s clean and dry.
New signs will be installed at the boat ramps which will direct boaters to the nearest screening station. De Leon also said that the county will increase its public outreach program to inform boaters of the screening and inspection process and the importance of keeping the mussel out of the county.
De Leon and his staff will present a similar briefing at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeshore Sports, located at 14913 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake.
Editor”s Note: Terry Knight can be reached at tknight3021@sbcglobal.net or by calling 263-1699.
