The Cape Elizabeth Town Council will entertain public comment at a forum on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Cape Elizabeth Town Hall on the advisability of charging parking or entrance fees at Fort Williams.

Below is the text of the proposal, as put forth by Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch, as well as revenue estimates prepared by Town Manager Michael McGovern:

To: Cape Elizabeth Town Council
From: Michael K. McGovern, Town Manager
Re: Request from Councilor Lynch
Date: October 29, 2002

In a meeting with MaryAnn Lynch, chair of the Finance Committee, I was asked to look into potential revenue from an admission fee at Fort Williams Park to be considered as part of the FY 2004 budget process. The specific model that we agreed to be worthy of analysis is a fee of $5.00 per vehicle which would entitle the vehicle to a single visit or unlimited visits for the year. For purposes of analysis, we agreed that everyone would pay the same fee regardless of legal residence. I have also included in the model a fee of $40 per bus, again entitling the bus to a single visit or unlimited visits for the season.

It is assumed that the fee would be collected at a small booth near the driveway as it turns right by the beach parking lot. The fee would be collected from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from May 1 to October 20^th of each year. This amounts to 1700 hours during the year. The cost of collection excluding initial capital costs would be approximately $30,000 per year.

The anticipated revenue, conservatively estimated, would be as follows:

Cape Elizabeth Vehicles	1,000	$ 5,000	2.1%
Other Greater Portland Vehicles	5,000	$25,000	10.7%
Other Maine Vehicles	5,000	$25,000	10.7%
Out of State Vehicles- May	500	$2,500	Total Out of State=70.5%
June	1,000	$5,000
July	9,000	$45,000
August	9,000	$45,000
September	9,000	$45,000
October	4,000	$20,000
Busses	350	$14,000	6.0%
Total Anticipated Income		$231,500
Total Anticipated Net Income		$201,500

The Town currently spends approximately $120,000 for operations and maintenance at Fort Williams Park. Under this proposal, the amount spent by Cape Elizabeth taxpayers for the park would be reduced to an estimated $5,000 and that would be paid by Cape Elizabeth residents who are park visitors. As the average property tax bill now amounts to $30.00 for Fort Williams Park, all local users of the park would see a reduction in their expense.

It is proposed under this plan for all net proceeds remain in a fund for the benefit of the park. This could pay for better sanitary facilities and other work identified by the Fort Williams Advisory Commission through the Fort Williams master plan process.