Lawton City Council weighing decisions on leasing lake concession areas

Amy Sims wants to continue at the Lake Ellsworth concession area she and her family have been operating since 2018.

The City Council isn’t yet ready to decide what will be done with Minno Marina or three other concession areas at Lakes Lawtonka and Ellsworth, where leases with private entities allow amenities to be offered on that city-owned land. While the council isn’t ready to decide, they have referred discussions about fees being charged in those four concession areas to its Fee Committee for analysis and recommendation, as city officials continue to debate what will be done with lake recreation areas.

The concession issue is coming to the forefront because leases are nearing or passed their terms for Ralph’s Resort and Minno Marina (at the old Fisherman’s Cove) on Lake Ellsworth, and the Sunken Bridge Yacht Club and Lawton Boat Club at Lake Lawtonka. Sunken Bridge Yacht Club’s lease will expire May 1, while leases with Lawton Boat Club and Minno Marina end June 30. Ralph’s Resort lease expired Dec. 31.

Council members directed the Parks and Recreation Department to continue month-to-month leases with concessionaires until they decide what will be done.

The issue is part of a larger plan by city officials to expand amenities at city lakes under a master plan crafted last year by Halff Associates, while also following recommendations from recreation-related boards and lake users that all revenues generated by lake activities be restricted to lakes to fund maintenance, operations and expansion.

The four leases at issue fall into two broad categories. Lawton Boat Club and Sunken Bridge Yacht Club have leased their spaces near School House Slough on Lawtonka’s east shore for years, with use limited to members. Concessions operated on Lake Ellsworth provide amenities such as supplies, city permits and boathouse and camping spaces for anyone.

Deputy City Manager Dewayne Burk said both clubs want to continue their leases, but the council needs to weigh the fact the city has begun raising its fees on the camping, boathouse and dock space they control to reflect fair market value. That is not true of the concessionaires or boat clubs, Burk said, explaining the value of those recreational spaces under the city fee structure far exceeds what the boat clubs remits to the city annual for lease payments.

Lawton Boat Club has 24 fulltime camp sites and four seasonal sites, which combined would equate to $111,712 annually if the boat club was charging each site what the City of Lawton charges for such sites on its property. The boat club’s annual lease payment has been $6,600 since 2013.

“This one has a nice area with trees for camping sites,” Burk said of the potential for those sites.

The nearby Sunken Bridge Yacht Club is smaller, offering 11 temporary sites and 12 wet slips to members. Combined, those sites would be worth $40,000 a year if fees were the same ones the City of Lawton charges. The yacht club’s annual lease payment has been $9,969.64 per year since 2002.

Amy Sims also wants a new five-year lease for Minno Marina, what remains of Fisherman’s Cove on Lake Ellsworth. It’s a request she made in 2023 when debates about lakes operations began, but she was given a one-year extension instead. Sims said her family have invested time and money into the area, which has been without a store since a fire destroyed it four years ago.

“This is the first year that we have started making money back for what we put in,” she said.

“This site has tremendous potential,” Burk said, of the city’s interest in operating the concession area and adding amenities.

Minno Marina contains contains only 16 small camping sites with pavilions and an old fishing dock and boat ramp, but Burk said there is room to expand to 75 to 100 camping/RV sites and breath new life into the area. He and Sims agree there is one issue that must be resolved immediately: a new sanitation sewer lift station, a project estimated at $20,000.

“The city will have to address this,” Burk said.

Ralph’s Resort has a mixture of boathouses and RV sites, with Burk estimating the dollar value of the seven boathouse and 17 mobile home/RV sites at $60,000 under city fees.

The ultimate task, Burk indicated, is deciding what the city wants done with those concession areas, and whether it wants to do that itself and retain all the revenue, or continue to contract with private operators. Identifying funding to make the areas profitable may be the greatest limiting factor.

Council members say they must weigh just how much city funding should be put into recreation areas used by a small percentage of citizens. Ward 4 Councilman George Gill said that is why the council supports the idea of dedicating all money generated by lake activities to those areas, lessening taxpayer support. Gill also said while there are many repairs and upgrades needed, there also is a lot of prime property leased “not even close” to the land value.

Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren said the council must ensure the city is getting the most money for its lake amenities. He pointed to what he said was the inequity of the fees charged for city sites, versus those charged by concessionaires.

“We charge people in exclusive areas less than open areas,” Warren said. “You should have to pay more to be in an exclusive area.”

Burk warned there are other factors to consider if the city assumes operations. For example, without a concessionaire at Minno Marina, the city has to maintain that acreage.

“You’d pay more than $1,250 on upkeep of the property,” he said.