No takers on houseboat concession

An effort by the National Park Service to get concession proposals for houseboat operations at Keller Ferry and Seven Bays drew a blank.

Contracts at both operations had lapsed and were being renewed on a year-to-year basis.

The NPS was seeking proposals from interested parties for a 10-year lease, and had a tour of the two facilities for interested parties last fall.

At that time several parties showed up, but none proceeded to submit proposals before the Jan. 24, deadline.

Marsha Buchanan, who handles leases for the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, said Friday that it was still the agency’s goal to have operations at the two locations up and running this season.

Both Keller Ferry and Seven Bays concessions have had houseboat operations that include boat rentals, moorage, retail, fuel sales, food and beverage sales and related activity.

Dakota Columbia, a Spokane firm, has been running both locations on a year-by-year lease.

Telephone calls to Dakota Columbia were not returned.

The new 10-year contract prepared by the NPS waived the concessionaire fee and in its place had a 1.7-percent fee that would go into a joint maintenance fund to provide money for repairs.

Still there was no takers.

National Park Service Superintendent Debbie Bird said Monday, “We did the best we could.”

She added that the NPS is in the process of determining what to do about this year’s operations.