The “pay as you leave” system attempted at Silver Beach County Park this past weekend created major challenges for the park staff.
The Berrien County Board of Commissioners on Thursday heard from County Administrator Brian Dissette that the system will be tried again this weekend, but the first trial run did not go smoothly.
Dissette tells us beach goers were confused about what was happening, despite all the signage put up to explain, and when it came time for people to leave, there were backups.
“This is very different than it’s always been, and then over the weekend, really, really big crowds,” Dissette said. “We did have a storm that encouraged people to leave all at once. As a result, we had a pretty significant queue of cars trying to get out all at the same time. And without a doubt, we had customers actively complaining to our staff.”
And those complaints weren’t always lodged in a friendly way.
Dissette says the staff at the beach tend to be young people who have to be allowed to leave by a certain time of night, and the park lost an estimated $1,600 when the decision was made to let the kids go home and allow people remaining in the park to exit without paying.
Dissette says Silver Beach was simply never designed for a pay on exit system, and although the St. Joseph Department of Public Safety was a big help, the first trial was rough. He said the county continues working with the city of St. Joseph to address traffic problems caused by the park.
The pay on exit system will be tried again this weekend with the city of St. Joseph’s parking consultant on hand, but it’s not looking like it will be maintained for long at the park.
