Residents express concerns about park expansion

LAKE CITY — Concerns about a proposal to expand a Missaukee County campground on the shores of Lake Missaukee mounted rapidly at Wednesday’s public hearing.

Of those who spoke from the audience of more than 50, the majority seemed to oppose plans to construct 42 additional campsites in an area currently occupied by ball fields.

“There will be increased traffic, impact on property values, noise and dust,” said Tim Holliday, who owns the cottage closest to one of the recreational vehicle campsites. “The homeowners are going to lose in return for your business.”

The park, according to Lonny Lutke, chairman of the Missaukee County Park Commission, has been paying for itself since the mid 1990s without using tax dollars. Money earned has been used to make improvements to the park and hasn’t gone into county coffers, he said.

The majority of the new campsites, Lutke added, will be drive-thrus and will better accommodate large RVs and campers. They will be sited along 12-foot-wide, one-way roads.

The park’s occupancy rate averages between 69 to 71 percent during the season, Lutke said in answer to a question.

“It doesn’t seem like they’re really needed,” responded audience member Doris Brumels, who also questioned the 30-by-50-foot size of the lots. A handout said the area on which they would be constructed is 3.5 acres.

“I don’t see how you can get 42 decent sites on this,” she said, adding that she’s camped in everything from tents to big motor homes for 45 years.

Another audience member wondered if the increased size of the park would require more employees. Currently, one full-time employee and one part-timer manage operations at this county park, plus two other county parks. Lutke mentioned that there is a resident camper who is the park host.

There were questions not yet answered: Will the current openings into and out of the park be enlarged? Will a well drilled to provide service for the new RV sites impact other, mostly shallow wells at nearby houses? Will the sewer system be upgraded, and who will pay for those upgrades? What about crime, and how will the lake quality be impacted? How will the ball fields, sacrificed for the RV spots, be replaced?

“This is a county park,” said a person who described herself as a new resident. “How does it provide for the recreational needs of our community? ... When did (the park) become a business rather than a park?”

When it started paying for itself, Lutke said.

Local resident Pam Niebrzydowski said funds raised from the proposed park expansion could help to make Missaukee County stronger economically.

“It needs to be a viable community with something more than empty buildings downtown,” she said.

If construction costs $200,000, Lutke said that money could be regained within two years. In a handout to the audience, park officials said each campsite could be rented at $50 per day, and if all sites were full, every day all summer long, it would be an increase of $275,000 earned each summer.

But some residents said they felt money was secondary to ambiance.

“It’s nice to come and see the sunsets,” said Tom Holliday, whose family owns several vacation homes near the campground. He said he was also concerned about water quality, noise, and air quality (for example, smoke from 42 new fire pits).

“At what price to you give up openness and beauty for profit?” he said. “You have to leave certain amounts of land open so you can walk your dog.”

The park expansion is part of the park commission’s capital improvement schedule. On that schedule, the development is slated to begin in 2008 and be completed in 2009.

However, at the meeting, Lutke said improvements could start this summer. Also on the schedule are plans to renovate campsites at Crooked Lake Park in 2012.

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