Buena Vista County opens Storm Lake Marina to private long-term lease interest

Buena Vista County moved Storm Lake Marina back toward a commercial waterfront role, voting to keep conservation offices, naturalist programming and other operations at the county park in Peterson while opening the marina to private long-term lease interest.

The board’s shift marked a turn from earlier expectations that the lakefront building might be converted mainly into conservation office space, shop space and environmental education use. Instead, the county said it would keep its own functions at Peterson and invite private entities to propose marina uses that could keep the property active and public-facing, including restaurant or bar service, an event space, bait and tackle sales, and boat repair and maintenance.

Lease proposals will be judged on long-term viability, a reasonable return, local market conditions and professional real estate guidance. That matters because the marina has long sat at the center of a debate over whether the property should operate as a business destination, a county office site, or some mix of both. The board’s new direction appeared to be an attempt to avoid forcing the building into a government-office-only role while still protecting county conservation needs.

The stakes are tied to years of public money and public access. In 2021, the county set aside $1 million of its $3.8 million American Rescue Plan allocation for marina improvements. On Dec. 24, 2024, supervisors formally designated that money for repairs to be finished by the end of 2026, including docks, roofs, parking areas, sidewalks, drainage, storage, utilities and a bait-shop type facility. Those improvements were planned for a property that has already seen state and county investment, and whose future use has been closely watched by residents around Storm Lake.

The marina fight has also followed a long legal and political path. In August 2023, supervisors approved a 4-0 request to transfer the marina from the State of Iowa to Buena Vista County after talks over a long-term 28E agreement collapsed and the Iowa Economic Development Authority denied an $870,000 repair request for broken concrete. The December 2024 transfer agreement covered the south and west portions of the roughly 17-acre site, including the parking lot, main building, slip docks, concession building, boat repair building, lift station and dock aerator. About seven-and-a-half acres on the north side remain under state ownership, with a one-acre portion managed by the county under a separate agreement.

The property was originally acquired in the 1960s for development as a public marina, and it has been operated at different times by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the City of Storm Lake and Buena Vista County under a management agreement that began in March 2024. It once housed Buoy’s Bar & Grill, bait and tackle sales and a boat dealership run by Tom Fitzpatrick. With more than 30% of Storm Lake’s shoreline public land and the county conservation department managing 17 areas totaling more than 1,200 acres, the marina remains one of the county’s most visible public assets, and one of its most politically sensitive.