Misadventure Costs Rise 12-Fold

Costs charged by the City of Morro Bay for cleaning up after an alcohol-related misadventure have gone up 12-fold, after the City Council approved updating a local ordinance.
Brought to the council by City Attorney Joe Pannone, the change to Muni Code Sec. 3.40.060, was first passed in December and is now in effect. It increased the City’s limit on how much it could charge an inebriated person who causes an accident or finds himself or herself in a tight spot of their own doing and in need of City services.
The code section involves, “When the City incurs costs as a result of incidents related to driving, boating or flying under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” reads a staff report. The section had still listed the maximum cost recovery to $1,000, an amount that has since been changed under State law to $12,000 max.
The change simply brought the City in line with the State law, but will mean a significant increase in potential costs for someone who gets skunked and runs his boat onto the rocks or sinks it in the bay would be liable for. Collecting the money would have to go through the civil courts.