Ellis Harbor boat houses gets governor's support

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

DES MOINES - Cedar Rapids boat house enthusiasts haven't been able to convince the Department of Natural Resources that their floating community should remain at Ellis Harbor. But an appeal to a higher authority may keep the Cedar River neighborhood afloat.

Gov. Chet Culver “believes these boat houses are essential to the fabric of Cedar Rapids,” a spokesman said late Wednesday.

The boat houses are an “icon of the community,” agreed Jim McLaud, a Cedar Rapids boat house owner, who was at the Capitol to ask members of the House Natural

Resources Committee to support legislation allowing them to stay in Ellis Harbor, which they say was created specifically for boat houses.

“Aren't we better off to recognize Cedar Rapids has a unique feature?” added Jim Kaas, a boat house owner from Cedar Rapids.

The full Natural Resources Committee may do that today when it takes up House File 2293, sponsored by Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids. It would allow boat house owners to continue to use barrels for flotation, instead of the foam the DNR prefers, and to transfer dock permits to relatives. If the permits are not trans

ferred, HF 2293 would have the DNR make them available for purchase.

“We've lost too much of what was good. I would hate to lose this piece of our community,” Running-Marquardt said.

The issue isn't Ellis Harbor, according to DNR Director Rich Leopold.

It's principle - the principle of sovereign waters.

The boat houses on the Cedar River, which the DNR manages for the state's 3 million people, are like someone building a house in a state park.

“But just because someone has been living in a state park for 80 years, we're not going to let them stay,” he said.