Community fights for Holland Lake day passes

SWAN VALLEY - Nearly 60 community members attended a Swan Valley Community Council meeting Tuesday, May 21 to express their indignation about the concessionaire's plans to phase out community day-use passes to Holland Lake entirely by 2020. The decision to provide the Swan Valley Community Foundation with 200 community passes this season and none in 2020 was made during a private meeting between the Holland Lake concessionaire, Parting Waters Adventure Inc. and the United States Forest Service Swan Lake Ranger District.

"What are we going to do with these hundred people out here that are really upset?" asked Ken Donovan, Council Chairman and Foundation board member, at the meeting.

The plan to phase out the program came as a surprise to the Foundation. Since 2015, they had an agreement with the former concessionaire to provide 300 annual passes to locals and seasonal homeowners around Holland Lake.

"Who are they to decide that?" asked community member Marcia Tapp. "Why didn't they consult these people who drew up the first agreement that worked perfectly?"

The Council invited Parting Waters Adventure Inc. as well as Chris Dowling, the district ranger for the Swan Lake Ranger District, to participate in the public meeting. Parting Waters Adventure Inc. was not present.

Since 2015, the Foundation paid the concessionaire $500 for the 300 passes, now they will be paying the same amount for 100 fewer. Day-use passes at Holland Lake are currently $5 a day per car or $35 for the year. According to Dowling, that money goes towards compensating the concessionaire as well as general campground maintenance.

Many members of the public fired back that the boat launch is still inoperable and there are problematic pot holes that haven't been addressed since day-use fees were implemented at Holland Lake in 2015.

Others questioned why the community couldn't manage the day-use areas at the popular recreation site.

"An important point that we want to make [with the concessionaire] is the contributions that the community does to maintain the site and keeping it in good shape. That adds value," said Dowling.

Dowling said he would bring up the idea of a citizen based site management to his supervisors, as well as set up a meeting between the Foundation and the concessionaire to discuss the issue further.

"Any modifications to the concessionaire agreement takes both parties to take place," said Dowling at the meeting. According to Dowling, the current concessionaire agreement at Holland Lake will end in 2022 and exceptions can be made to the contract at that time as well.

"We need that concessionaire in house, we can talk all we want to... but we need the concessionaire here," said Tapp.

For the time being, the Foundation will have to decide how to work with 100 fewer community passes than previous years.

"We will do our best to make sure that these are available, we might have to cut down to one per family," said Donovan. In previous years, the foundation was able to offer two passes for families. "I think we can make it work."