PORTSMOUTH — The Town Council Monday night heard about improvements and ideas to boost revenue at two of its recreational jewels: Sandy Point Beach and Melville Campground.

Tim Dunbar, who’s been the town’s recreational director for the past 11 months, acknowledged that historically, the town-owned beach hasn’t exactly been a cash cow. 

“Sandy Point Beach for a long time has been a financial drain, so to speak,” said Mr. Dunbar. 

The beach typically costs $500 to $600 to run daily, he said, and a big reason for that is the state’s requirement that the town employ four lifeguards at all times. “We tend to take a bit of a loss on that,” he told the council.

It costs about $55,000 to operate the beach annually, with $10,000 in revenue generated at the gate for a final cost to taxpayers of $45,000, Mr. Dunbar said.

The positive side, he said, is the beach gets tremendous use from local residents, who are admitted free if they have transfer station sticker on their vehicles. Slightly over 10,000 residents used the beach this summer and on any given day, they make up 80 percent of the beach population, Mr. Dunbar said.

The recreation director suggested several improvements to boost revenue at the beach:

• Change the non-resident rate for Friday from $10 to $15, the same fee to use the beach on weekends. Mr. Dunbar said the beach is raked every Friday morning, so that’s when it looks its best and attracts the most visitors.

• Put no-parking signs above the entrance to the beach, where some residents park to avoid paying the fee to access the lot, costing the town roughly $100 to $20 daily, he said.

• Extend the entrance fee collection time from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily, which would increase revenue by up to $100 a day, said Mr. Dunbar, adding that some non-residents “hover” until the gate closes.

Mr. Dunbar also discussed other changes he would like to see with Recreation Department programming, including higher fees for summer programs, a move to a computer registration system and a new after-school program once work on the town-owned Brown House at Glen Farm is complete. The historic farmhouse on Linden Lane will be the Recreation Department’s headquarters.

Mr. Dunbar said summer programs brought in about $25,000 in registration revenue. On the suggestion of council member Elizabeth Pedro, he agreed to prepare a spreadsheet that compared revenue to operating costs.

“The $25,000 is not net,” Ms. Pedro pointed out.

Melville Campground update

The council also heard an update on Melville Campground from manager Justin May, who reported a second season of growth since the property came under new management in late 2014.

Park reservations have doubled since the last year of the previous management team, he said, including an 18 percent increase from 2015 to the 2016 season. More than 6,000 guests from 46 states and 17 countries will visit the campground this year, Mr. May said.

“They’re using our local services, and that’s good for our local economy,” he said.

As far as capital improvements, management has installed WiFi throughout the park, remodeled the front store as well as the former managers’ residence for use as a vacation rental, repaired the maintenance building and built a laundry facility. A remodeling of the bathrooms is partly complete and will be finished over the winter, Mr. May said.

Work continues on a park utility upgrade, site improvement and an expansion that will accommodate 40-plus class A motor coaches and additional rental units by next year, he said. 

“I just can’t say enough about how nice it looks down there,” said Ms Pedro, who also thanked Mr. May for his support of the town’s first off-leash dog park at Melville, which is expected to open next spring. Mr. May has donated some signage for the park, as well as some lawn service maintenance.

Council Vice President James Seveney, who ran the meeting in the absence of Council President Keith Hamilton, suggested the park “interweave” the camping community with local businesses, such as providing renters with restaurant menus or pointing them to other town facilities such as Sandy Point Beach. 

He also recommended that Mr. May host a meeting of the Portsmouth Business Association at the campground. Mr. May said he agreed with both suggestions.