Rental cabins concept resurfaces for Marion County Lake

The idea of building recreational rental cabins north of the mobile homes at Marion County Lake resurfaced again Monday at the Marion County Commission meeting.

Commissioner Dan Holub introduced local Marion builder Nick Nickelson as an interested person he had showed the potential cabin sites to.

The idea of putting cabins there fell through once when potential developers had to give up putting a restaurant in one end of the Lake Hall. Nickelson?s preliminary planning doesn?t include any development other than cabins.

Nickelson said he believes at least seven cabins would have to be built to make a project feasible. They would be privately owned but on land leased from the county.

Commissioner Bob Hein said he thought that many cabins would fill quickly during baseball tournaments and during hunting season.

Nickelson said the cabins should include at least two units large enough for two queen-sized beds, and that even the single cabins should include a restroom, a kitchenette and room for some storage and furniture.

For a private person to get bank financing for the cabins, Nickelson said it would probably be necessary to obtain some form of government backing or guarantees because a bank wouldn?t be able to see how the project would perform without four or five years of experience.

Holub said the county could assist in finding government guarantees of financing through its economic development department.

Nickelsen said most probably it would probably take four or five years for the cabins to pay out, but, with good promotions at the right time, could do so in the first few months.

Holub also assured Nickelson that there would be no problem with zoning as long as proper setbacks were met.

The commissioners consulted with James Scalora of Orazem & Scalora Engineering on the idea of replacing the current heating and cooling system in the courthouse with a system of multiple heat pumps that would draw energy from a ?heat source loop of water? heated to 60 to 90 degrees with gas or cooled through a cooling tower.

The system would result in cleaner air, more evenly spread through a new system of higher air pressure duct work, Scalora said.

The commissioners said they probably will put trash collection at Marion County Lake up for bids after receiving a letter from the current collector, the city of Marion. The letter, written by City Administrator David Mayfield, stated that due to increased costs, the city would be raising the charge from one route from $540 a month to $720, and on another route from $22.50 to $30 a month.

Hillsboro farmer Ray Just met with the commissioners concerning waterways built along 110th and 120th that the commissioners said were incorrectly built running into county road ditches.

Commissioner Randy Dallke interrupted Just at one point when he said he was getting ?hard feelings? about the matter to say that the commissioners should have hard feelings because Just wasn?t doing things according to acceptable designs that he told them he would do.

He told Just that the Commission needs written confirmation from the USDA Soil Conservation Service saying the waterways were built according to their design.

Just said the SCS was supposed to have talked to the commissioners, and added, ?I?m getting the run-around here.?

Dallke told Just that how dirt work is done on his farm is his business, ?but the roads are our business.?

Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt reported that 518.38 tons of municipal solid waste were disposed in November in 32 hauls at an average weight of 20.53 tons per load and a cost of $36.34 a ton.

The transfer station also disposed 138.51 tons of commercial and demolition waste and 0.025 ton of tires, he said.

The commissioners approved of Communications and Emergency Management Director Michele Abbott?s purchases of a computer server for $1,532 and software for $1,218 from Great Plains Computers.

They approved of Sheriff Robert Craft encumbering funds into 2010 of $8,000 for jail and sheriff?s office video cameras and of $6,000 for a computer server.

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