Storm Lake Marina Dispute Pits County Supervisors Against Conservation Board

An 80-to-20 public survey result has done little to resolve the standoff over the Storm Lake Marina, where Buena Vista County Supervisor Kathy Croker and Conservation Director Greg Johnson are pushing sharply competing visions for a lakefront building that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has yet to formally hand over to the county.

The two sides clashed at the weekly Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning, with no formal decision reached. Ownership of the property remains in limbo while the county finalizes a property abstract for state review; the DNR is expected to deed the site to Buena Vista County in the coming months.

Croker wants the lakefront building restored to its former role as a public gathering space, pointing to the days when Buoy's Bar & Grill operated there under City of Storm Lake management. A marina subcommittee conducted a public survey that found 80% of respondents preferred using the building for public events and community education. Only 20% backed the conservation board's proposal for offices and environmental programming. Croker says the public's message is clear.

Johnson is pushing a different direction. He wants to convert the site into a nature center and office space for the conservation department, which currently operates out of Buena Vista County Park, nearly 30 miles from Storm Lake. Johnson argued the site could serve dual purposes, hosting events while also providing much-needed workspace for staff, and said a modest expansion would be more cost-effective than building new facilities elsewhere.

Croker pushed back, saying the county shouldn't ask taxpayers to fund an addition.

The dispute has been building for years. The City of Storm Lake returned the marina to the state during the pandemic, setting off a prolonged period of administrative uncertainty. The conservation board has continued maintaining the property in the interim, completing recent repairs and operating a bait shop funded with federal ARPA dollars.

What happens next depends in part on questions that remain unanswered: no cost estimates for either proposal have been made public, the survey's respondent count and methodology have not been released, and the exact timeline and any conditions attached to the DNR deed transfer are still unclear. With the property abstract still under state review, the marina's future remains unresolved.