Stephen Wyllie, the operator of Tom Thomson Cruises was before Huntsville council on August 26 asking for permission to bring the Tom Thomson tour boat to the town docks for the fall season.
“I’d like to put the boat downtown for the fall season,” said Wyllie, adding that following a very successful boat tour operation from Deerhurst Resort, the numbers of patrons there are expected to start dropping significantly. He asked council to consider waiving the fees for the rental of the town dock while he builds his business.
Wyllie was accompanied by Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce executive director Kelly Haywood who was there to support his request. “Stephen and I are working on a long-term vision of how we can work with the municipality, build the relationships with the BIA, obviously co-users of the dock,” she told council, adding that boat tours in the downtown draw a great deal of interest to the downtown as well as the community as a whole. She said people are always looking for tour packages and things to do and boat excursions are also very popular with tour operators.
“I think it’s very important to our downtown core to draw people and to enjoy our beautiful waterways,” she said, adding that Wyllie is extremely passionate about the heritage of the area and “the stories that are told on the boat, there’s a great deal of education and there’s a great deal of heritage in our community that could be broadened, particularly around the locks, all the history of essentially how tourism began here.”
Council was told by staff that the daily rental of the town docks works out to $112 per day from Monday to Thursday and $148 daily from Friday to Sunday. Wyllie’s boat would take up two slips, but there are no specific fees for just renting a boat slip. According to staff, to rent the town docks for two months would cost approximately $5,464.
Wyllie said the idea is to initially run tours off the dock from Wednesday to Sunday in September and October, and if it becomes popular more days and tours could be added. He said his expenses run anywhere from $500 to $600 a day, and said to tack on another $100 makes it difficult as some days nobody shows up. “But that’s part of starting a business, they gotta see it there, and then it starts growing,” he said. Wyllie asked council to waive the fees to see if running boat tours from downtown Huntsville on a permanent basis is viable.
He said the idea is to run four to five 45-minute boat tours per day with an expected start date of September 4, 2019.
Councillor Jason FitzGerald said he’s in favour of waiving the fees for a trial period as there would be no cost to the municipality. He also said there could be an opportunity for a charitable donation.
Councillor Tim Withey echoed the sentiment but said there should be a separate rate for the rental of boat slips.
“I’m in favour of waiving the fees. I think that this is an important operation to try to establish. I think if someone else during this period wants to come and rent the park or something else we nail them with full fees,” he said to laughter. “I was kidding,” he added but said the municipality could rent other areas not in use by the boat tour operator.
Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano said she wants to see the business thrive but said she’d also like to see the municipality get funds from the operator after he breaks even. “So I’d be willing to look at the numbers at the end of the year and agree on a fee… it is a for-profit private business,” she noted.
Councillor Brian Thompson said he was reluctant not to charge anything but would be willing to compromise on the fee.
Councillor Nancy Alcock said she agrees with waiving the fees but wanted to see an expanded fee schedule for the town facility. “I don’t think it’s going to cost the municipality anything, therefore, I would consider waiving, having said that… it also seems like one hell of a lot of money for anybody to ask anybody to use on part of the dock so the fact that we don’t have a different rate for different types of uses for that part of the municipal property, we should,” she said.
Councillor Dan Armour said he also agrees with waiving the fees. “I think it’s a great opportunity not only for his business but also for the businesses in the downtown.” He said it would bring more people to downtown during the shoulder season. “We know how many tour buses come through our area so why not bring them downtown and spend some money.”
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe expressed concern with parking. “If we are going to drive more tour bus traffic to I’m assuming park downtown, I’m just wondering if we’re kind of potentially exacerbating the parking problem,” he said.
“You won’t know until you see,” responded Withey.
Armour said there is parking for buses.“We have two spots on West Street that are designated for buses,” he said, adding that that information could be provided to the bus drivers coming into town.
In the end, council agreed to waive the fees for using the town docks for Wyllie’s boat tours and asked staff to come up with a better rental fee schedule which would enable people to just rent boat slips, rather than the entire docks.
Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison referred to the initiative as a good start with the potential of creating a more permanent attraction. “Hopefully we can have you down there more permanently and we can expand that business even more, and we want to work together to do it,” he told Wyllie.
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Jimmy, imagine the taxes you would pay, to enjoy the steady growth and amenities in this town, without tourists. You would not need a ramp in a log home. As much as I hate those pesky tourists getting underfoot on occasion — I thank any entity that might attract tourists, rather than try to break their rice bowl.
The town forces people with disabilities to apply for building permits and provide site plans to make their homes wheelchair accessible. So they can afford to waive fees for business endeavours I suppose. Or maybe it was from all the revenue they received in lieu of parking for all the downtown developments without any actual parking spaces. Is it not enough that the taxpayers of Huntsville subsidize the parking for downtown and now we have to subsidize someone’s business endeavours, Really.
Sounds good. I hope the business does well and Town can find a fee structure that works for all.
I thought there was to be a permanent 2nd boat.? 1 at Deerhurst and 1 in town.? I recall news of the (2nd ? ) one launched late in the season in Port Sydney. ???