Waseca County to add boat ramps in Blowers Park

Maintaining lakes can be difficult without proper boat ramps to access them. Waseca County staff is looking to fix that problem at two of the county’s waters.

Waseca County is entering a cooperative agreement with the state of Minnesota to provide two concrete boat ramps located in Blowers Park. The ramps will provide access to the public waters of Moonan Marsh and Watkins Lake.

The Waseca County board of Commissioners voted to enter in the agreement at their May 7 meeting. Waseca County Land and Water Resources Manager Chris Howard presented the agreement to the board and explained the need for the ramps.

The ramps can be used for recreational activities, but the main reason for the installation of the ramps is to maintain the water.

“What we’re trying to do is create a multi-purpose opportunity for recreation and maintenance, and if we have the access right there it makes it a lot easier for wildlife managers and the maintenance crew to access it to do their obligated responsibilities,” Howard said.

As part of the cooperative agreement, the state will supply the concrete plank, boating related signage, and technical expertise for the installation of the ramps while Waseca County will provide equipment, labor, and aggregate materials in preparation for the installation and minor alterations to the parking area of Blowers Park.

The county’s cost of the project is $9,000, with them utilizing grant funding. 60% of the project cost will be from Aquatic Invasive Species(AIS) and {span}Natural Resources Block Grant(NRBG) funding while 40% of the cost will be from funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act.

The board was in favor of the project and the cooperative agreement.

”Moonan Marsh and Watkins [Lake] have been here for a long time and we’ve never had a decent ramp put in,” said Commissioner Doug Christopherson.

Commissioner De Malterer had concerns about wildlife nesting, and wondered if the eagles nest that is in Blowers park will be affected by the ramp and its installation.

“The eagles nest is at the far end of Moonan marsh and that won’t interfere with this installation project of the boot ramps,” Nelson assured Malterer.

Howard noted that he wishes the cooperative agreement had been made earlier in the year so the ramp could have already been installed by now. Discussions with the Minnesota Department of Resources (DNR) and the county about the boat landing in Blowers Park began last summer, but the conversations stalled due to staffing changes with the DNR over the winter.

The conversation was resumed during the spring and the cooperative agreement was made. Howard also noted that it was hard to get the project going and the water maintained properly due to the many different groups that are a part of the DNR.

The board voted unanimously for the cooperative agreement, with Christopherson making a motion to execute the agreement and Commissioner Brad Krause seconding it.