Bayview news: Bayview united against developer
Most small towns have issues that divide. Bayview is no different.
Recently, however, the little resort community has come together with a vengeance.
The uniting factor is a developer who swept into Bayview three years ago. Bob Holland is primary owner of several corporations locally, all limited liability corporations. Waterford Park Homes LLC is the new owner of Vista Bay Marina, Harborview Marina and Boileau’s.
Many residents think the perceived effort to remake this little town into a spa for the rich is ruining the personality of this oft-overlooked resort area on Lake Pend Oreille.
Prices for float-home moorages and boat slips have doubled, then increased some more, pricing many middle-class boaters out of the market.
Float-home owners, however, have little recourse. Since 1998, when the state prohibited any more than the existing 200 homes, marina owners have fought to raise the rates for these captive customers.
At a recent meeting, the state Land Board reversed itself from its previous stance of allowing the market to float freely, realizing that the float-home owners don’t have any options. It is considering now what, if anything, to do to level the playing field.
T-shirts have replaced the old sandwich board for advertising.
Ralph Jones, ever the entrepreneur and owner of Ralph’s Internet Coffee Shop, has capitalized on this trend. He made up a bunch of T-shirts with “No Bob” logos, and they are selling well.
“Bob Holland has unified this community like no other cause in recent memory,” said Jones.
KREM-TV featured Jones on a recent newscast.
A committee report by Hobart Jenkins at the Bayview Chamber of Commerce meeting on June 12 claimed multiple code violations of building regulations and misuse of the waterfront.
At the same meeting, Chip Corsi, state Department of Fish and Game regional director, reported on damage done to kokanee spawning beds by allegedly sloppy practices at the Harborview Marina by Waterford Park Homes.
Corsi estimated the fish has a 65 percent chance of extinction. He also said the department is going to try for delisting bull trout from protected to a limited fishery. Plans also apparently are in the works for a civil-action attempt to recover the $1.4 million estimated loss from the destroyed spawning beds.
Sewer pump failure
A recent sewer pump failure, apparently caused by a lightning storm, burned out two of the three progressive pumps as well as the alarm system designed to signal such a failure.
Bayview Water and Sewer District commissioners say no raw effluent escaped or reached Lake Pend Oreille.
On a more humorous note, it was reported by a reliable source that Tina Arendt, manager of Waterford Park Marinas, had been heard to deny that her employer had had anything to do with the breakdown.
Personally, your reporter believes that with karaoke at one bar and live music at another, beer sales had caused a run on the restrooms, overpowering the sewer system.
Weekend entertainment
Entertainment for the coming weekend includes the band Nighthawk playing Friday and Saturday at the Captain’s Wheel. The Button Hook will have M&M Karaoke on Saturday night. Also, Vista Bay Marina will have a Blues and Brews barbecue with the John Kelly Trio playing from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
They do
Wedding vows were exchanged June 9 by Kenyon Lewis Workman Haskins and Angela Faye Lay. More than 50 well-wishers enjoyed an excellent Texas-style brisket barbecue prepared by chef Jeff Muckenthaler.