Steve Thurston (2021)
A boat approaches the Lake George Village Public Docks in August 2021.
UPDATES BELOW:
Boaters who stay overnight at the Lake George Village docks now face a $100 fine—up from $50—with the possibility of being towed and fined another $500, the village announced on its website earlier this week.
According to the announcement, the rate hike is a response to several complaints from boaters using the village’s six public docks. Boaters have been squatting at the docks day and night. Boaters are supposed to pay a $3-per-hour fee at the kiosks on shore and place the receipt on the boat. Boaters who stay at the dock past the hours they paid for will face a newly instated $50 fine.
The docks are open 20 hours a day and closed only from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Mayor Bob Blais in an interview earlier today said this was to help with Boating While Intoxicated. People can sober up after a night of revelry and be on their way at 5 a.m.
Despite the rules, seven boats had to be shooed from the docks this morning, the mayor said.
The real trouble has come from long-term abusers, people who stay overnight for many days on end. The announcement cited one boater who paid $1,100 in fines and a towing fee for three weeks at the docks. At the old fine of $50 for overnight docking, that's $1050 for 21 days.
Update: In a phone call just after publication, the mayor said that the person who paid thed $1,100 in fines was actually towed twice over the course of three weeks and the cost of the fines did not include the two towing charges.
[Docks to rent on Lake George start at about $175 per foot of a boat's length, according to people who responded to a question on a Lake George boating Facebook page. At $175 for a 20-foot boat, that's $3,500 for the season, that is, if the boat owner can find a dock to rent.]
“The reason we raised the rates,” he said, “as many as 10, 11 [boats] have been taking advantage of us.”
He added that they can be from out of state and are therefore harder to track and punish. This is a way to get people to react quickly and move them into the court system. Update: In the call just after the initial publication, the mayor said that they will track out-of-state boats more carefully and be more likely to tow them rather than instate boats because of the difficulty in tracking the out-of-state boats. In order to receive a towed, or impounded, boat, the owner must show proof of paid fines to the towing company, he said.
Code and meter enforcement will handle the tickets and tracking for the village, the mayor said.
“I hope it’s enough,” Blais said of the increase. He added that he does not want the minority of scofflaws to ruin the experience for people who are not chronic abusers.
Blais said it will be up to his department, which includes the code and metering enforcement, to determine if towing and the higher fine is justified.
The trigger will be three or four unpaid fines, he said. At that point, a boat might also be denied access to village docks completely.