What's going on in Cougar Bay?

Approval for North Idaho Maritime to continue operating a 5-acre site in Cougar Bay is still under consideration by the Idaho Department of Lands — despite several reparation measures remaining unfulfilled.

Last year, after a series of public hearings and IDL reviews, the 5-acre location was granted a "submerged lease" for winter dock storage at a rate of $5,000 per year — $1,000 per acre. 

However, IDL denied NIM's request to use 2-acres of the site year-round. The agency issued a deadline of Aug. 1, this past Sunday, for NIM to remove all materials not associated with winter storage and pay $60,000 for 12 years of unpermitted commercial activity. 

As of Monday, the issue remains pending, IDL public information officer Sharla Arledge said, due to an appeal from NIM owner John Condon. 

"Condon has requested reconsideration of the proposed submerged lease terms, and that request is currently pending before the director," Arledge said. "Therefore, IDL cannot comment further."

NIM has operated out of Cougar Bay for over 12 years, previously subleasing an area from Foss Maritime before the business closed in early 2000, Condon told The Press. First filing an encroachment permit with IDL in 2008, Condon said he expected the process to be painless — but he was wrong. 

"There were leases in place for us to use 140 acres of the bay. We are asking for 5-acres," Condon said. "We thought it would be fairly easy to go from 140 to 10 when we approached this issue 12 years ago. It wasn't like I was looking to go from 10-acres to 140."

Condon told The Press last week that the company planned to appeal the lease limitations in hopes that IDL would approve the year-round operation and reconsider the $60,000 tab.

"If a landlord changed your rent, do you think they'd go back 12 years and charge you the difference?" Condon said. 

IDL has offered submerged land leases since about the late 1980s, Arledge said.

"The purpose of a submerged lands lease is to authorize the use of the bed and banks below the ordinary high-water mark under specific terms and conditions while also compensating the public for the use of the beds and banks," Arledge said. 

Arledge noted that a key difference from traditional encroachment permits is that submerged land leases do not require public comment opportunities. 

"In the case of NIM, IDL did utilize the detailed administrative record from the encroachment permit proceeding to assist it in formulating the lease and the supporting memorandum," Arledge said. 

NIM was issued a notice of violation for operating without a permit in Cougar Bay last year, prompting the company to apply for an encroachment permit. IDL denied the application in December 2020, Arledge said, for lack of littoral rights. Nine days later, the business requested a land lease in the same location, according to a memorandum by IDL Resource Protection and Assistance Bureau Chief Eric Wilson. 

"As part of its memorandum to IDL's director, IDL recommended that the lease of the submerged land be issued for winter dock storage only (Oct. 1 — May 31)," Arledge said.

Condon explained that he appealed the lease because the business needs both operations to continue offering services.

"We get calls all the time from the sheriff's office, the county, and many customers around the lake for help cleaning up debris," Condon said.

"We've recovered sunken vessels, unfortunate aircraft accidents," Condon continued. "We've completed many miles of shore rehabilitation and removed thousands of tons of debris from the lake." 

Year-round operations by NIM, while described by Miller's memorandum to "may be useful to NIM," also "substantially impair the public interest in Cougar Bay." Specifically in the document, Miller points to public comments collected by the agency since 2008 through a series of application hearings that objected to the year-round area due to navigation, recreation, environmental impacts, and aesthetics.

The memorandum notes that by clearing loose structures from the bay, NIM potentially aids navigation and recreation. IDL also stated that commercial activity occurred in Cougar Bay before NIM operations, and many agency requirements attempt to diminish aesthetic impacts. 

Condon said he wants to resolve ill feelings with individuals who oppose the Cougar Bay work area. However, referring to a string of recent comments that include false information about NIM and Condon's family, the business owner asked for civility.

"I'm more than willing to sit down and discuss this matter but don't start attacking my family or me about it," Condon stated. "We might have a difference of opinion, but when you start doing that, that is out of bounds." 

Per statute, IDL could issue civil penalties for failing to remove the equipment or paying the fee. 

"The reconsideration is currently pending," Arledge reiterated. "However, IDL has the legal authority to seek a court injunction to require removal of certain encroachments."

Info: www.idl.idaho.gov/lakes-rivers/