TOWER — The Department of Natural Resources’ plan for a $3.2 million renovation of Lake Vermilion’s Moccasin Point public access faced plenty of criticism here this past Wednesday during an open house that attracted nearly 50 people, mostly lake residents.
Most of those who turned out said they thought the existing landing was sufficient to meet the needs of the area.
“I think the way it is now is just fine,” said Carol Ferguson, a Pine Island resident, whose cabin property has been in her family for 110 years. Ferguson said she was unsure how she would reach the cabin next summer during the anticipated year-long construction process.
That was a concern expressed by others.
“We have a 16-foot boat with a 20-horsepower motor,” said Sarah Schmidt, who owns a cabin with her husband, Jake, on Pine Island, not far from Moccasin Point. “We can’t go very far when the water is rough or it’s too windy,” she said.
Moccasin Point provides key access for hundreds of island dwellers because the landing is one of the most protected on the lake and is centrally located near many summer cabins on Pine Island.
The landing is also the deepest water port on the lake, which has made it an essential for several large barges that service lake properties.
“We work out of this access a lot,” said Patrick Norri, who operates Anderson Barging. Norri said his service is currently booked through August, with the barges providing island access for propane trucks, septic pumpers, and other contractors.
“They need to re-evaluate,” said Blaine Olson, who operates Vermilion Barge and Gravel. “What is there has been working pretty well. It doesn’t seem like there is enough room for parking in their plan. When we bring in dump trucks, we need room to maneuver them onto the barge. They need to consider how this will work in the real world.”
But Scott Kelling, the northeast regional manager for DNR Parks and Trails, said the state-owned access doesn’t currently comply with state rules. While some of the barge services currently moor their vessels at Moccasin Point, “the law doesn’t allow for that,” Kelling said.
The site will include a concrete pier with ramps on either side to allow for loading and off-loading of barges, but operators have complained it’s too close to other docking used by the general public, and they worry about conflicts or accidents.
State Rep. Roger Skraba, who turned out for last week’s open house, said he’s tried to offer suggestions to the DNR for accommodating the barges but doesn’t feel like the concern has been adequately addressed.
“The DNR wants the barges gone,” said Skraba, but he said it’s not clear where they can go. “According to the Lake Vermilion Plan, they can’t buy land to park them because no more commercial development is allowed,” he said. “These barges are needed, and they can’t just moor in the lake.”
Other current uses at Moccasin Point also run afoul of state rules. Island residents, for example, will routinely leave boats moored at the landing for days at a time when they must be away from their cabin. That’s another longstanding practice that appears to conflict with state rules, which prohibit overnight mooring at public accesses.
Kelling said the existing site has other issues that need to be addressed, including managing stormwater. He said the current access, which is unpaved and slopes toward the lake, discharges a large amount of sediment into the lake.
The DNR is also trying to make accommodations for people with physical handicaps, who have a difficult time with the existing landing.
“We’re also trying to maximize parking,” he said.
The DNR plan also includes “redesign and replacement of existing boat ramps and boarding docks to improve traffic flow,” facilities for inspection and cleaning of boats to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, and a new canoe and kayak launch area.
Most of the project entails construction of a large parking lot, designed for 98 vehicles, assuming many with trailers.
Kelling said the DNR has built hundreds of large public accesses with a similar parking lot plan, although creating the lot at Moccasin Point will be a major undertaking that requires considerable removal of bedrock to level the site. Kelling acknowledged it’s probably the most complicated access the agency has built to date.
The parking lot plan has come under plenty of criticism as a cookie-cutter approach.
“It’s like a Walmart parking lot in the woods,” said Skraba, who has been hearing from lake residents about the state-funded project. “People don’t like it. … If they were coming to me for funding, I’d zero it out.”
While DNR officials say they’re enlarging the parking lot, others say 98 parking spaces aren’t nearly enough. Schmidt said she’s been counting the number of vehicles parked at the landing on busy weekends in recent years and found anywhere from 99 to 253 vehicles, depending on the weekend. Schmidt says she has no idea where all those vehicles will park with the planned changes proposed for the site.
Area trails manager Brad Dekkers was circumspect after hearing from those who turned out at the open house. When asked if he had heard from anyone in support of the plan, he said “no,” but speculated that those who were in support might be less likely to turn out. “Everything we do is a tradeoff,” he said.
Timeline
The open house was just one way for the public to weigh-in on the DNR’s plan. The agency is also taking comments online, which the public can reach through the Moccasin Point information page located at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/moccasin-point-pwa-construction-updates.html.
Scroll to the bottom for a link to the comments page. The DNR has not provided a deadline for comments, but it expects to wrap up its review of public comments and issue its final design for the site by July. The project is slated to go to public bidding in August with a construction start in October or November. Project completion is slated for September 2026.