Updates to Jerisich Dock provide new amenities to boaters

Recent updates to Jerisich Dock are nearly complete, providing new amenities to boaters visiting Gig Harbor.

These updates include power and water services available to moored vessels at the dock, which was the cause behind recent construction in Skansie Park. These amenities have been successfully installed and now the final step of the project — a electronic payment kiosk — is almost complete.

The dock updates have also meant the addition of an overnight moorage rate, Public Works Director Jeff Langhelm said during a Feb. 22 presentation to the City Council.

Overnight rates of $1 per foot, $20 minimum, will be charged during peak season — which runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day — and 50 cents per foot, $10 minimum, during off season, which is the remainder of the year.

The rates are similar to moorage rates in Washington state parks and will include the use of both power and water usage, Langhelm said.

Day moorage will continue to remain free between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and would also include the use of water and power services.

“We want people to come into the city,” Langhelm said, noting that the moorage-free time provides enough space for visiting boaters to shop in the city and have a meal before the fee is due.

The City Council approved the implementation of the new moorage fees, which will go into effect once the electronic kiosk is installed in the park later this month. Other Jerisich Dock changes approved by the Council are updates to the city municipal code that allows the police department to enforce the new moorage rates and time limits.

The changes will help police officers better regulate abuse of the dock, Police Chief Kelly Busey said.

“It’s a lot easier for us (now),” Busey said of the code amendments, which will allow officers to issue parking warnings — similar to those issued for cars — to vessels moored at the dock .

Additionally, time limits that boats can be moored at the dock has changed slightly, he said.

“You can stay longer but not as often,” Busey said of the new regulations, which state that a vessel may be moored no longer than three nights in a 10-day period before it must be moved.

Other improvements underway at Jerisich Dock include the resurfacing of the gangway and the project to improve Lift Station 4, which would include showers and laundry amenities when completed.

“The city’s committed to being a boater-friendly destination,” Busey said.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Updates to Jerisich Dock provide new amenities to boaters."