NEWPORT — Residents are frustrated with the city’s decision to raise seasonal rates at the Prouty Beach campground by nearly 20% for next year, amid complaints of lacking improvements.
“There’s nothing that’s been done there — not a thing,” seasonal camper Rudy Bianchi told the Newport City Council on Monday.
The municipal park and campground sits on the north end of the city, along Lake Memphremagog. It offers both short-term and seasonal rates, which cover stays from May to October. Last month, the council unanimously approved seasonal rate hikes of 19.5% for Newport residents and 18% for nonresidents.
The increases, set for next year’s season, mean both residents and nonresidents will pay about $300 more than this year to stay seasonally.
There are currently 27 seasonal camps at Prouty Beach, according to a Sept. 6 memo, with 67 people on the waitlist.
Seasonal camper Wayne Sylvester said many at the park believe the rate increase was too much, too fast.
“If you could just reconsider the rate increase — perhaps spread it out over the next few years, as opposed to doing it all in one year — it would take some of the pressure off some of the folks that were taken by surprise,” Sylvester said.
City Recreation Director Jessica Booth said the increases came after considering costly planned improvements like upgrades to bathroom facilities, landscaping and more.
“We know we have a lot to do over at Prouty Beach still, and there needs to be money in order to fund that, that goes beyond the taxpayer,” she said.
Booth said the increase was also necessary because rates have been much lower than those at neighboring locations, some of which she said offer fewer amenities.
Booth acknowledged that $300 over the course of a year is “quite a bit.” However, she said,“we have some catch-up to do because it’s been so vastly underpriced for so long.”
She said seasonal campers at Prouty Beach have been getting “a heck of a deal.”
Campers dispute that notion.
Bianchi brought up the laundry machines. “Every time you go to use them, they’re broke,” he said.
He said people don’t swim because the lakefront area is “disgusting.”
Sylvester praised camp staff but said the bathhouse is aging and the Wi-Fi is inadequate.
Campers also mentioned TV services that never materialized and problems with sewer connections.
Council member Kevin Charbonneau said that when he looked at the numbers, it didn’t seem like officials had been reinvesting all the rate money into the campground.
He said he received a letter from a camper, who wrote that there isn’t enough bandwidth for the park’s internet to serve its residents. The writer described going elsewhere to do laundry and finding few activities for guests, Charbonneau said.
“Quite frankly, if I had this information before the vote came, it would’ve been different,” he said.
Council member Dan Ross asked Booth to provide more details on proposals in the city’s draft five-year capital improvement plan.
With more information, Ross said, maybe campers would more easily accept the rates.
According to Booth, the park received about $161,200 in revenue last year, with $37,500 from seasonal campers. Expenses totalled $107,000, she said.
Booth said that campers had come up with a wishlist of improvements.
She gave estimates for each: a new bathroom would cost $30,000, half of which was budgeted last year; three commercial washer and dryer sets would cost about $10,000; chairs and tables would come in around $2,000; and a new recreation room would be between $40,000 and $60,000.
The new rates, over five years, would bring in close to $40,000 in new revenue. “That would barely cover the cost of the bathrooms over five years,” Booth said.
City Manager Laura Dolgin told City Council that during one of their upcoming meetings, they’d be able to assign funds for projects at Prouty Beach.
Mayor Paul Monette said the council could look to address concerns like the laundry machines.
“They just want to see, as you say, the best bang for their buck,” Monette said. “They want to see something put back into the facility.”
