Work wrapping up at marina
By Jacob Doran - Bigfork Eagle
After nearly three years of delays and legal battles, the Lakeside Marina, for which permission granted in late March to rebuild docks within the existing footprint, is beginning to look like a marina again.
Montana Eagle Development LLC contracted Flathead Post and Piles to rebuild the docks, on which crews began work in mid-June, placing the pilings in August. Work has continued on the docks, ever since.
Project foreman Jason Cass said, last week, the docks will most likely be completed within a couple of weeks. However, once the docks are completed, crews will begin work on a seawall that will enclose the marina.
That work, Cass said, will probably take at least another month.
Montana Eagle Development partner Trevor Schaeffer said he was pleased with the new docks and has been impressed with both the contractor's skill and workmanship.
"These docks are rock solid," Schaeffer said. "They've added an extra lock-down board so that the planks don't move. They're not going to fall apart. That's for sure
"These are nothing like the old docks. There's no give, at all. The way they're built, they should last for a long time."
Schaeffer said he wants to restore the restaurant and marina to it's former glory, when it was a destination spot for boaters from all around the lake, thereby bringing additional visitors and business to Lakeside.
As with the new lawsuit regarding the Eagle's Crest Subdivision, the Flathead Lake Protection Association also filed two major lawsuits against the Flathead County Board of Commissioners over the marina PUD that the commissioners originally approved, tying the project up in the courts for more than two years.
The Flathead County Commissioners approved the initial application and major lakeshore variance request for what would have been the largest marina on Flathead Lake on May 19 of 2004, following the recommendation of the county planning staff that the request be granted. Soon afterward, the Flathead Lake Protection Association and Association spokesperson Bruce Young filed litigation to reverse the commissioners' decision, alleging that the commissioners approved the PUD without proper consideration of lakeshore regulations or the factors required by Montana statute.
In both lawsuits, the courts ruled against the commissioners, halting any work on the Lakeside Marina and declaring both the PUD and a permit for emergency work on a retaining wall to be invalid because of a failure to comply with Flathead County Lake and Lakeshore Protection Regulations and Montana Lakeshore Protection Act.
The original PUD called for a total of 196 boat slips, 86 of which would serve as an amenity for Eagle's Crest residents. The remaining 110 boat slips would have been rented to the public and legally held in perpetuity for public use.
The final settlement, which was signed by the Flathead County Commissioners and the Flathead Lake Protection Association, allowed the developer to expand the marina's docks an additional 40 feet into the lake and stipulated that the developer or current marina owner must wait 40 years before seeking to extend the docks further.
The agreement also includes conditions related to the seawall but allows the developer considerable flexibility in redesigning the project within the newly established footprint.