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Trustee: Mega yachts could soon have to ante up higher rates at Mitchell Park Marina

Owners of “mega yachts” tied up at Mitchell Park Marina could soon be asked to dig a bit deeper into their pockets with a rate hike, according to a proposal by Greenport Village Trustee David Murray.

At Monday night’s work session, Murray said that “the word is that we are extremely cheap, compared to Sag Harbor.”

Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce said he preferred the word “inexpensive”.

But Murray insisted that “cheap” was accurate. Sag Harbor and other municipal marinas, he said, are charging $8 per foot for the larger vessels, while Greenport is charging only $4 per foot.

After the season, Murray said he’d like to rates increase to $5.50 for the larger boats.

“I think we can generate a lot of revenue with the mega yachts, and I’d like to push hard after this season to raise the rates,” he said.

The increase in fee would not apply to smaller vessels, he said. “Mega yachts are using this as a parking lot, which is fine, but we should raise the rates.”

Nyce asked if any yacht owners had asked to dock at the marina for the entire season.

Murray said most are transient vistors but some have inquired about staying longer.

One yacht owner has asked to dock at the marina for six weeks, Trustee Julia Robins said, and the boat “is a big one,” Murray agreed.

Village Administrator Paul Pallas reported that revenue rates for the marina were up by almost $9,000 for June, to $66,654.88, especially due to “one particularly large boat” that had been docked there for the month.

“We’ve noted there seems to be an increase in larger boats but also, a commensurate decrease in smaller boats,” Pallas said, adding that the reasons were most likely economic.

Nyce said perhaps escalating fuel costs have proven prohibitive to owners of smaller vessels.

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