Alcohol ban still likely for Lake Macbride beach this summer

SOLON - What boaters and beachgoers will be allowed to do - or not do - this summer at Lake Macbride has been in the hands of lawmakers meeting more than 120 miles away.

While the possibility of revising lake rules got some attention from legislators earlier this year, the lack of further action so far means it's likely that alcohol on the beach, and boats with motors of more than 10 horsepower, will not be allowed this summer.

Last year, the Iowa National Resource Commission voted in support of a ban on liquor, wine and beer on Lake Macbride's beach. The commission's recommendation came after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources tabulated the number of incidents and citations at 48 state parks and lakes. Lake Macbride was one of the most problematic.

The park logged 371 incidents and citations from 2010 to 2015, including 232 involving alcohol. The state park also had 269 calls for assistance.

The agency continued to solicit public comments and a legislative rules committee put implementation on hold to give legislators a chance to weigh in.

In February, a House subcommittee recommended a bill about alcohol at the beach be indefinitely postponed. Members said it'd be best if state agencies and commissions that oversee the park handle the matter after all.

A separate bill that would end decades-old boat motor rules on the lake passed out of the Senate on a 38-12 vote in March. From there, it went to the House Natural Resources Committee. But Chairman Rob Bacon, R-Slater, doesn't plan any action on the bill. It came over from the Senate too late for him to do adequate research to act on it still this legislative session, he said.

'It's been this way for a long time, so I think we can go one more summer” before acting on the proposal, Bacon said.

Phone calls and emails he is receiving on the subject are running about 50-50 pro and con, Bacon said.

Under the bill, all boats still would have to be operated at no-wake speed. However, it would allow boats with motors exceeding 10 horsepower on the lake in the summertime, which currently is not allowed.

Kory Tersinar, a Marion resident who boats and fishes regularly, said he is on Lake Macbride six or seven times before the Memorial Day weekend, after which his 90-horsepower boat motor is no longer allowed.

Tersinar said in his experience, most people who fish would buy more powerful motors than those now allowed on Lake Macbride in the summer so they could also fish on larger bodies of water, like the Mississippi River.

'At an idle speed, it's a safe way to travel. You can get from Point A to Point B in a very timely manner, but yet it gives myself plus a lot of anglers here in Eastern Iowa the opportunity to fish the lake all year long,” Tersinar said.

Ron Puettmann, Lake Macbride's park manager, agreed that boats with larger motors weren't necessarily a safety concern. If those boats were allowed, they still would be required to operate at a no-wake speed.

Puettmann said the people against the motorboat bill would most likely be those who use kayaks, sailboats or other boats without motors because it could make the lake more crowded.

He said the Department of Natural Resources hasn't done any estimates on how many more people or boats might be attracted to the lake during the summertime if the bill passes.

'The whole theory is you don't need to have all cookie-cutter parks. You might want to have one park where they might allow some sailboats and kayaks and that sort of thing,” said Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, who voted against the bill.

He said Lake Macbride is close to other recreational areas, like the Coralville Lake, that don't have the restriction.

'This has, I think, worked pretty well for all these years,” he said.

James Q. Lynch of The Gazette contributed to this report.

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