Harborview work continuing
Bayview developer Bob Holland plans to continue construction on a controversial marina project despite a cease-and-desist order issued after work there damaged a kokanee spawning bed.
Dock work at Harborview Marina will begin July 1, according to a June 19 letter the attorney for Waterford Park Homes LLC sent to state officials.
A manager for the company confirmed Thursday that the work will require pounding additional pilings into the lake bottom. The damage to the kokanee beds was attributed to pilings installed by work crews in April.
General Operations Manager Tina Arendt said the July 1 date is not firm, and “there won’t be any work done without the regulatory agencies’ blessing.”
She said Waterford has also hired a biologist to study the potential impact on the spawning beds, and construction wouldn’t begin until that study is also complete.
The Idaho Department of Lands is working with the Idaho attorney general’s office to respond to the company’s plans to resume construction, according to Ed Robinson, the agency’s area manager for the Lake Pend Oreille area.
Waterford attorney Steve Wetzel said in the June 19 letter that the company is scrapping its plans to redesign the marina. Instead, the company plans to install new docks “in the same location and configuration as the existing docks.”
Those docks were removed prior to the cease-and-desist order issued by officials forbidding any work without new permits.
Wetzel cites a provision that states a one-time “replacement of the entire dock” would be considered a repair that wouldn’t require a new permit.
He assured the agencies that the work “will not affect the remediation of the Harborview spawning bed.”
Arendt said she expects “a lot of flak” from Bayview residents about Waterford’s plans.
At least one Bayview resident contacted the Department of Lands on Thursday, Robinson said, with concerns about recent activity at the marina.
Arendt said crews replaced a walkway to 19 float homes – work which was approved by officials. A new dock was assembled at Farragut State Park and then towed to the marina on Wednesday.
Officials approved the work for “safety reasons,” according to Robinson and Arendt. The old docks were described as uneven and unsafe.