Meyers Chuck dock (Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority photo)
The Wrangell Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to raise the monthly 911 surcharge on each phone in Wrangell.
The new charge is $2 per phone per month to pay for the operation and maintenance of the 911 system. The surcharge has been $0.75 for 10 years.
The increase was prompted by the state’s 30 percent funding cut to Wrangell’s jail, which also employs the community’s 911 dispatchers. Raising 911 fees is a small step toward closing that funding gap.
The assembly also approved new moorage fees for Meyers Chuck.
Meyers Chuck, a small community between Wrangell and Ketchikan, has never had moorage fees before. Wrangell took over the Meyers Chuck dock from the state last summer, and the fees collected there will go toward a new dock for the community.
The Meyers Chuck moorage rates are half the cost of Wrangell’s. Transient moorage is $0.20 a foot daily. Monthly moorage is a $1.75 a foot, and annual moorage is $12 a foot.
The assembly established a new $100 fee for boat owners wanting to reserve a long-term storage spot in the Marine Service Center. The fee is meant to deter boat owners from reserving a spot and then backing out at the last minute.
The new fees will go into effect July 1.
