The Trail and District Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for another busy summer managing the city’s RV park and campsite on Highway 3B, near Waneta Plaza.
However, this year the chamber has approached Trail City Council requesting an increase in the fee-for-service contract for the management and operation of the site for the coming season.
The increase requested by the chamber would bring the annual contract to $17,400, which the city has taken under consideration until a decision can be made at the next regular council meeting on April 14.
“The proposal to council was to increase the fee for staffing and administration,” said Norm Casler, executive director of the chamber.
“We’d like to raise the student wage and staff hours are quite limited, we’d like to see more time to provide a little better service for the visitors.”
In the past the students employed at the park only had so many hours in the day when they are available to assist visitors, at times resulting camping fees being missed because visitors arrive after the attendant has left for the day at 8 p.m. and leave in the morning before the student returns at 8 a.m.
In addition, the newer, much larger and more modern recreational vehicles feature a whole host of electronics and electrical appliances that were unheard of in RVs when the site was built in approximately 1987.
This results in regular power outages when the site’s breakers are tripped when campers draw more power than the system can provide.
The chamber’s proposal suggests that, if possible, a “live-in” attendant be hired who could respond to after-hours calls to keep visitors happy.
“Last year the RV sites were full probably 95 per cent of the time,” said Casler. “This was partially due to construction projects in the area but they tend to be well used.
“It’s a good park, there’s clean washrooms, showers, water, power, a sani-station and wi-fi. It’s busy and we’d like to keep it well-serviced.”
Casler said that, currently, there are 16 RV sites and an equal number of tent sites without water or electrical hook-up but that RV are increasingly popular with touring visitors.
“We looked into expanding the number of serviced sites but it’s really expensive to plumb the sites and run power,” he said.
“The important thing is we have it and we want to keep it nice. If you want tourists to stop and visit you have to be able to accommodate them.”