Dock issue continues to tie up at county meeting
Staff writer
How to protect county lake docks moored for a second straight week Monday at county commissioners’ regular meeting.
At last week’s meeting, lake resident and dock owner Marci Cain spoke about privatizing the docks.
Her words brought agreement and disagreement Monday.
“I just wanted to back what Marci Cain and some of the others said about the docks,” lake resident Karen Williams said. “We were out of town on Fourth of July but we were told by someone that people were shooting fireworks off our dock.
“My question I have to you is, if our dock had been caught on fire, are you going to replace that? It’s going to go against my homeowner’s insurance.”
Things no longer the same, she said.
“People don’t care anymore,” Williams said. “People don’t respect other people’s property.”
Dock owners who want to privatize their docks should be allowed to do so, she said.
But Irene Barkman, who owns a trailer and a dock at the lake, gave a different view.
“I believe that the docks should remain public, as this is the Marion County Lake,” Barkman said. “But I do agree that vandals should be prosecuted and held accountable to the owners of the docks.”
Barkman asked that commissioners review regulations regarding types, speed, and number of boats on the water and enforce regulations to ensure safety.
Cain referenced a 2020 survey about the lake. Administrator Tina Spencer provided a copy of the results.
Thirty-one dock owners preferred docks to be public, and 11 preferred they be private.
The survey found that four owners had reported vandalism, 28 reported trash problems, 25 reported bait problems, 5 reported theft, 11 reported having to ask others to leave, and 8 said they’d had no problems.
Cain said she is concerned about damage to docks, but county counsel Brad Jantz said he thought there was no way to indemnify dock owners.
Lake Superintendent Isaac Hett said he worried that privatized docks might be intentionally damaged.
“I don’t think there’s any way to stop that 100%,” Hett said.
The biggest complaint he hears is about boats, but he predicted “a lot of push-back” over changing boat regulations because people have spent lots of money on their boats.
Commissioners decided to schedule a work session to discuss boat regulations.
Wind farm payments
Former commissioner Diane Novak spoke to commissioners about agreements with wind farms for payments in lieu of taxes.
Jantz said it is illegal to tell a wind farm, “We will impose one on you,” but the county could reach an agreement with a wind farm..
“You walk a fine line,” he said.
But Novak countered: “We are getting screwed royally.”
In a letter to a State Senator Mike Thompson, a Johnson County Republican, she suggested commissioners were confused. She read from his response.
“Those guys are being fooled,” Thompson wrote. “Counties are getting taken to the cleaners by these wind developers. The payment in lieu of tax can be as high as the county wants it to be.”
Novak called wind turbines “monuments to stupidity.”
“You ought to come up and see Diamond Vista,” she said. “They’re black, they look awful, they’re hideous.”
Johnson incorrectly was identified in some editions as being from Wichita.