Chain O' Lakes pier rights offered in unusual sale
The piers on a section of Lake Marie have been removed, but the rights to locate those boat parking places on the Chain O' Lakes or Fox River are being sold at a starting price of $1,000 each.
Beginning Monday, 41 pier rights acquired by the Lake County Forest Preserve District when it bought the former Lake Marie Camp in Antioch will be made available via an online auction. Forest district officials aren't sure what to expect, but they agree it is an unusual circumstance.
"The Army Corps (of Engineers) has limited the number of pier rights on the Chain O' Lakes, so there are only so many available," said Jim Ballowe, director of facilities for the forest preserve district. "If you want a slip, you have to buy it from someone else who has slip rights."
Anyone who buys the rights can locate the pier anywhere on the Chain or Fox River from the Wisconsin border to Algonquin, according to Ballowe. Obenauf Auction Services is handling the sale.
"It is an oddity. It's a two-week auction. People have plenty of time to see it and get information on it," he said.
Bidders must meet requirements of the Fox River-Chain O' Lakes Boat Pier and Boat Ramp Application Review Policy of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Successful bidders also need to apply for permit review and approval before the sale is finalized. The Army Corps in 2000 established a regional permit program for boat piers and ramps on the Fox River at the Wisconsin line to the Algonquin dam, including the lakes and connecting channels between those points.
Corps spokeswoman Lynne E. Whelan said the total number of boat slips permitted in the region was not available.
The district operates the Fox River Preserve and Marina near Port Barrington but didn't want to get into that business at Lake Marie, a former campground it acquired in fall 2012. The preserve has not been opened to the public, but the boat slip rights need to be used or the Army Corps "literally will take them away," Ballowe said.
"When we were building Fox River Marina, we actually got several calls from people trying to sell us rights," he said.
Pier rights have been sold for as much as $10,000 each in the early 2000s "when the economy was booming and boats were selling," said Mike Tully, the district's chief operations officer. While the situation may be rebounding somewhat, Tully said he doesn't expect close to that amount.
As with the sale of all surplus property, the proceeds will go into the district's general fund and the money will not be earmarked for any specific project or expense, Tully said.
The Lake Marie Forest Preserve, west of Route 59 and north of Beach Grove Road, has no vehicle access, although the old gravel roads at what had been Lake County's oldest campground, established in 1936, still exist.
A gravel entrance road and small parking area is included in the district's five-year capital plan and is scheduled for the 2017-18 budget year.
Other than repairing an existing retaining wall, no other work on the lakefront is planned, Tully said.