Saylorville Marina Boat Ramp Closed

[CycloneDaddy]

FYI ... anyone that likes to use the Saylorville Marina boat ramp is out of luck this year. The Corp of Engineers has shut it down due to it being unsafe. The cost to fix it is just shy of $1,000,000 and of course the Corp. doesn't have the money in the budget it to fix it this year. I'm sure going to miss all the fights / shouting matches on Saturday and Sundays evenings between people pulling their boats out of the water while i enjoy a cold one down at the Harbor Grill.

[herbicide]

That Freaking sucks. How are they going to get all the houseboats and other big slipped or buoyed boats in?

The better question, where the heck am I going to put in? I pay for the outside storage at the marina, for the pure convenience. That convenience is now gone.

They keep raising our taxes, (and boating fees) and this is the service we get? BTW, we pay fees each year to use that ramp. Capitol city of Iowa, this is "our" lake and we can't even keep the main ramp open?

Rant over (still p.o.'ed) that ramp has been unsafe for several years. It's been a shame on the lake for quite some time.

Us boaters and the corps have not seen eye to eye since the beginning, even though the lake's charter states it is a recreational lake first, flood control lake second.

This debacle will cause serious damage to the Harbor grille and marina's business. I will guarantee that.

[CycloneDaddy]

Here is the e-mail I got from them today regarding the situation:

Dear Marina Customers,

Due to the unsafe condition the boat ramp the Army Corps of Engineers has determined to close the Saylorville Lake Marina boat ramp for public use. This means that the general public will not be able to use the ramp, this includes marina customers. Saylorville Lake Marina staff will be able to continue using the ramp for marina operations. So the marina staff will be able to launch your boats from the ramp when necessary.

If you launch your own boat and have not gotten it in the water already you will be required to use another boat ramp on the water or have marina staff launch it for you. There will be a fee of $55.00 to launch your boat from the marina ramp. This fee is for boats that are on their own trailer. The Army Corps of Engineers are going to recognize our season boat ramp passes so if you are going to have to use another please contact the office and we will provide you one. Please contact the marina office to schedule your launch or to answer any questions that you have.

The ramp will be closed to the public until it is replaced. The boat ramp is the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers and it is not in their budget to replace the ramp at this time. It will take congress to approve the $944,000 needed to replace the boat ramp. The marina needs you to contact the state senators and representatives and voice your concerns about the boat ramp closure. This helps them recognize the importance of the boat ramp and speed up the process. Please forward this information on to other boaters that you know.

The boat ramp is needed not only for lake access, which this is 1 of 3 open when the lake floods but it is also used for emergency personnel when there is an accident on the lake. With the closure of the boat ramp the response time will be increased which could mean life or death. Please talk to your congressional members about these issues and any others that you can think of. I have included the contact information for the local congressional members.

Congressman Tom Latham
Michele Wing Mustain 1421 S. Bell, Suite 108A
Michele.mustain@mail.house.gov Ames, IA 50010
(515)232-2885

Senator Charles Grassley
Aaron McKay 210 Walnut Street
aaron_mckay@grassley.senate.gov 721 Federal Building
(515)288-1145 Des Moines, IA 50309

Senator Tom Harkin
210 Walnut Street
733 Federal Building
(515)284-4575 Des Moines, IA 50309

Congressman Leonard Boswell
300 East Locust, Suite 320
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515)282-1909



Thank you for your cooperation is this matter and sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns please feel to contact me.

[Jerry1982]

I've had a lot of good times watching people launch their boats at Saylorville. It is usually more fun than the boating itself.

I'm not real familiar though with the reservoir. How many other boat ramps, free or fee-oriented are there?

[herbicide]

Originally Posted by CycloneDaddy

Here is the e-mail I got from them today regarding the situation:

Dear Marina Customers,

Due to the unsafe condition the boat ramp the Army Corps of Engineers has determined to close the Saylorville Lake Marina boat ramp for public use. This means that the general public will not be able to use the ramp, this includes marina customers. Saylorville Lake Marina staff will be able to continue using the ramp for marina operations. So the marina staff will be able to launch your boats from the ramp when necessary.

If you launch your own boat and have not gotten it in the water already you will be required to use another boat ramp on the water or have marina staff launch it for you. There will be a fee of $55.00 to launch your boat from the marina ramp. This fee is for boats that are on their own trailer. The Army Corps of Engineers are going to recognize our season boat ramp passes so if you are going to have to use another please contact the office and we will provide you one. Please contact the marina office to schedule your launch or to answer any questions that you have.

The ramp will be closed to the public until it is replaced. The boat ramp is the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers and it is not in their budget to replace the ramp at this time. It will take congress to approve the $944,000 needed to replace the boat ramp. The marina needs you to contact the state senators and representatives and voice your concerns about the boat ramp closure. This helps them recognize the importance of the boat ramp and speed up the process. Please forward this information on to other boaters that you know.

The boat ramp is needed not only for lake access, which this is 1 of 3 open when the lake floods but it is also used for emergency personnel when there is an accident on the lake. With the closure of the boat ramp the response time will be increased which could mean life or death. Please talk to your congressional members about these issues and any others that you can think of. I have included the contact information for the local congressional members.

Congressman Tom Latham
Michele Wing Mustain 1421 S. Bell, Suite 108A
Michele.mustain@mail.house.gov Ames, IA 50010
(515)232-2885

Senator Charles Grassley
Aaron McKay 210 Walnut Street
aaron_mckay@grassley.senate.gov 721 Federal Building
(515)288-1145 Des Moines, IA 50309

Senator Tom Harkin
210 Walnut Street
733 Federal Building
(515)284-4575 Des Moines, IA 50309

Congressman Leonard Boswell
300 East Locust, Suite 320
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515)282-1909



Thank you for your cooperation is this matter and sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns please feel to contact me.

I Just got the same mail.

[kingcy]

Originally Posted by Jerry1982

I've had a lot of good times watching people launch their boats at Saylorville. It is usually more fun than the boating itself.

I'm not real familiar though with the reservoir. How many other boat ramps, free or fee-oriented are there?

Its funny watching people that dont know how to back up, try to back their boat into the lake. There are a few others you can use they just are not as handy or nice. We go to Redrock some, usually have a good luck getting our boat on the water in short order, have a good time and dont have to worry a ton of boats right on out ***.

[Clonefan94]

This seems pretty typical of government today. Collect Fees, taxes, etc. Then when the item you've been paying taxes and fees for, needs an upgrade, all of a sudden there is no money in the kitty to make any repairs or upgrades. The short-sightedness of our elected officials has never ceased to amaze me. You could tell for years that something was going to have to be done at Saylorville, now, it's a shock to all in charge and no one knows where the money is coming from.

Most may say, "It's just a boat ramp." but, seriously this is the way our country is being run now. They take our money, take a little more, then when something goes wrong, all of a sudden they need a little more.

[brianhos]

Kinda fun to watch this thread vs the ones on the politics board that say things like a boat ramp in Iowa should NOT be funded by our federal government since this sorta thing is neither for defense or required infrastructure. I do not support this marina being rebuilt with tax dollars. It seems to be another Earthpark waste of $$$.

[The_Architect]

What makes it unsafe?

[aweb84]

Originally Posted by Jerry1982

I've had a lot of good times watching people launch their boats at Saylorville. It is usually more fun than the boating itself.

I'm not real familiar though with the reservoir. How many other boat ramps, free or fee-oriented are there?

I have used the Lakeview boat ramp a few times. It is located on the southwest side of the lake. I didn't have to pay but there was a little shack towards the entrance. I haven't ever seen one of them open so I don't know if they actually use them or not.

[CYKOFAN]

Clonefan94-I would guess the marina fees go mainly for maintenance. As for taxes, there's probably a marina in Iraq we're rebuilding along with streets, bridges, sewer systems, etc. That way the Iraqi government can keep putting their tens of billions of oil revenue into banks around the world. But like you said, that's the way our country is being run now.

[CycloneDaddy]

The marina owners actaully have a lease with the Corp of engineers. I'm not sure how much the marina pays for the lease but I'm quite sure they aren't getting the use of the land/lake for free. For whatever reason the boat ramp is the Corp of Engineers responsibility and it has been neglected for quite awhile. The maiin thing I see wrong with the boat ramp is that there are some sink holes in it. I used it on Sunday evening and didn't have a problem with it though.

[herbicide]

Originally Posted by brianhos

Kinda fun to watch this thread vs the ones on the politics board that say things like a boat ramp in Iowa should NOT be funded by our federal government since this sorta thing is neither for defense or required infrastructure. I do not support this marina being rebuilt with tax dollars. It seems to be another Earthpark waste of $$$.

Maybe not in a future world, but right now these are the kind of things our tax dollars are supposed to be directly responsible for. All public boat ramps are paid for by tax dollars. This is another classic example of gobernment waste, they can't afford the things they are supposed to be providing, yet the goberner gets a raise.

There is more than meets the eye to this, because the Army Corp has a contract with Saylorville Township on how the lake is supposed to be managed. It was part of the agreement when they decided to build the reservoir.

Also, the users of the ramp (myself) pay fees to use the ramp. I am all for an elimination of the taxes collected to fund such boat ramps, but this is currently not how they are supposed to be managed.

I would be more than happy to pitch in extra $ for it to be operated like a toll road, as long as taxes would be reduced accordingly (good luck with that)

[isuno1fan]

Go to Red Rock. Much better and wayyyyyy less of a crowd.

[herbicide]

Originally Posted by isuno1fan

Go to Red Rock. Much better and wayyyyyy less of a crowd.

Too far away for me and friends, no friends houseboats, and its not as much as a, um, "recreational" (party) lake.