Fee Deposit Tubes.....it's a small town police department's likely scenario for a never ending run of theft-of-service indictments.....enough to make Officer Barney Fife, Mayberry PD...be smil'n in his grave!
Lots of opportunity for the local pd to turn on the binoculars and observe from a distance what plays out at the local boat launch. Who knows...could be one of the local selectmen will get caught for not staying in good grace with the fee tube.
Methinks, in order to make a fee deposit tube be a working success, the fee needs to apply to everybody: residents, non-residents, property owners, politically connected self-annointees, and even local selectmen. Just keep the price low, say five bucks per use/for either a launch or a retrieval, with no exceptions for anyone, what-so-ever.....period.....the end! Keep it simple!
As you may or may not know, the Forest Service uses green steel pipe devices, about 48" high x 8" diameter that must be securely anchored into a large concrete anchor buried underneath the green grass, charging three dollars/day, and it must working for them.
So, why not put a similar setup to work at a local town boat launch?
Supposedly, Republicans are inherantly opposed to all taxes, but realizing the need for at least some funding, have hung their Republican hats on the 'fee system' where the actual user will be paying for its' use. Well Ladies & Gentlemen, this is a Fee Tube Pipe that even a Republican could probably agree to.
What's not to like about it.....as it's obvious advantage is being on-duty 24-7, and its' inherently low cost to maintain and operate as opposed to having a town employee stationed at the boat launch to collect launch fees.