§ 45-2-35.2 - Town of Narragansett – Landing fee.
SECTION 45-2-35.2
§ 45-2-35.2 Town of Narragansett –Landing fee. – (a) The town of Narragansett is hereby authorized to charge, assess, orotherwise collect a thirty-five cents ($.35) landing fee on each passenger overthe age of twelve (12) arriving in the Port of Galilee, Narragansett, RhodeIsland, by public or private boat; provided, however, that this provision shallnot apply to vessels when they are engaged in commercial fishing. All feescollected, less expenses of collection, if any, shall be utilized by the townof Narragansett to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all passengers,including, but not limited to, emergency medical services, acquisition of bothpersonal and real property to provide support to the ferry passengers, and toestablish a fund to assist the town of Narragansett in resolving problems whicharise due to the impact of vessels landing passengers in the town ofNarragansett. The town of Narragansett may enter into agreements with anycommon carriers by water operating in the town of Narragansett and any operatorof a marina in the town of Narragansett authorizing the common carrier ormarina operator to collect the landing fee on behalf of the town ofNarragansett. The agreement shall provide for the payment of a reasonable fee,(not to exceed fifteen percent) (15%) of the landing fee, by the town to thecommon water carrier or marina operator and indemnification of the watercarrier or marina operator from and against any liability to, or claim ofliability by third parties, arising from the collection of the boarding fee.All such common carriers shall collect the landing fee on behalf of the town ofNarragansett, by including the amount of the fee in its rate and charge toadult passengers without the necessity of approval of the landing fee from thepublic utilities commission ("PUC") or the division of public utilities andcarriers ("DPUC") under Title 39. The landing fee authorized by this chapterdoes not apply to any persons receiving free transportation from the publicutility under § 39-2-5. The town council of the town of Narragansett shallpromulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section.The town of Narragansett may seek no fees from the common carriers other thanthose set forth in this section; provided, however, that this sentence shallnot preclude the taxation of property, but not the vessels, of the commoncarriers pursuant to Title 44.
(b) The rate relief previously authorized by the PUC forInterstate Navigation Company in 1997 (PUC Docket No. 2484) which authorizedthe increase of Interstate Navigation Company's rates (except the Block IslandPassenger Commuter Rate) by one and four-tenths percent (1.4%) in order to payfor property taxes assessed against Interstate Navigation Company's vessels bythe town of Narragansett shall continue in full force and effect until June 1,2002. Notwithstanding the restriction placed by the PUC on the money collectedby Interstate Navigation Company pursuant to this rate relief, the money shallbe disposed of as follows: (1) from the monies collected as of June 30, 2001,Interstate Navigation Company shall make a one time payment to the town ofNarragansett of eighty-five thousand dollars ($85,000) and the town ofNarragansett shall be authorized to retain the fifteen thousand dollars($15,000) previously paid to it by Interstate Navigation Company; (2) thebalance of the funds collected as of June 30, 2001, are to be invested inequipment and facilities to serve the rate payers of Interstate NavigationCompany subject to DPUC subsequent verification of that investment. If adispute arises regarding the disposition of the funds as set forth in thissection, then the DPUC or Interstate Navigation Company may petition the PUCfor review, and the decision of the PUC shall be final and binding and notappealable. For purposes of this section, the use of such funds by InterstateNavigation Company for: (1) the repair and/or replacement of the bulkhead andrelated facilities at Interstate's Block Island facility; or (2) Interstate'sexpenses related to the construction of its new terminal facility in Galilee,including the construction of facilities for the connector road lots; and/or(3) the pre-payment of principal and related pre-payment fees on the loanoutstanding for the M/V Block Island, shall be deemed to be equipment andfacilities that serve the rate payers of Interstate Navigation and shall not besubject to any prior review or approval by the DPUC and/or PUC; provided thatsubsequent verification and approval shall remain within the purview of theDPUC and PUC for rate making purposes. Any expenditures out of the fundscollected as of June 30, 2001, for any other purposes shall require the priorapproval of the DPUC to assure that the proposed expenditures are in the bestinterest of the rate payers. If a dispute arises between Interstate NavigationCompany and the DPUC as to such proposed expenditures, then the DPUC orInterstate Navigation Company may petition the PUC for review.
(c) From the funds collected between July 1, 2001 and May 31,2002, one-third (1/3) of the total shall be paid to the town of Narragansett inJune, 2002, and the balance shall be retained by Interstate Navigation Companyto be invested in equipment and facilities to serve the rate payers ofInterstate Navigation Company. Interstate Navigation Company shall be requiredto obtain the prior approval of the DPUC in order to expend these funds. If adispute arises regarding the disposition of these funds as set forth in thissection, the DPUC or Interstate Navigation Company may petition the PUC forreview.
(d) As to property over which the town of Narragansett hasregulatory control, the town of Narragansett may not prohibit overnight parkingon private property and currently existing parking lots in Galilee, and therewill be no mandatory offsite parking for cars in Galilee.