Seagull Bay Yacht Club will continue operations

Back in July, the Seagull Bay Yacht Club in American Falls was on the verge of shutting down operations for Seagull Bay.

The Bureau of Reclamation, who the club leases the land from, felt there were regulations that needed to be met in order for the club to continue operating the recreation area.

After months of meetings and discussions, the yacht club said it has finally come to an agreement with the BOR. It will continue operating Seagull Bay.

Since July, the club has been working on putting together an operating plan for the BOR, which was approved.

Part of the plan is that the club will partner with Power County and its waterways committee to operate Seagull Bay.

“What that means is that the bureau now can give us matching funds when a government entity is involved so if we can write some grants and then the bureau will match those, we can expand the recreation area, improve the services, everything,” said Doug Balfour, attorney for the yacht club.

One of the issues the BOR had with the club was public versus private use. The bureau felt there wasn’t enough public use or services offered, but there were to club members. One specific issue was that the BOR felt there weren’t enough RV camping spots.

By partnering with Power County and available funding, the BOR could expand Seagull Bay. It has a long-term plan to have 60 RV camping spots.

Balfour said both Power and Bingham counties have been in support of keeping it open because of the safety benefits. The bay serves as a quick launching pad for search and rescue boats.

Another issue back in July was that the BOR only allowed 14 days maximum for camping. The club makes the majority of its operating money from long-term, seasonal leases from members. Balfour said as part of the operating plan, the club included the fact that without season long memberships, the money to maintain the recreation area wouldn’t be sufficient. So the BOR agreed and the 14-day limit was done away with. Seasonal leases are still available for members.

Balfour said the BOR has been very cooperative and he’s just glad they were able to come to an agreement.

“The yacht club and I are very happy that the bureau of reclamation has seen the value of having the yacht club here operating this,” Balfour said. “I think they realize that without the yacht club here this place would shut down, would not work. There wouldn’t be recreational opportunities, there wouldn’t be search and rescue opportunities.”

Balfour said right now, the club is waiting on a memorandum from the BOR on its partnership with Power County. But Balfour said other than finishing up some paperwork and some details, the issue seems to be resolved. The club, the BOR, and Power County will all continue working together on changes and improvement to the Seagull Bay recreation area.

The commodore for the Seagull Bay Yacht Club wrote a thank you letter to the community for its help and support to keep the club operating.

“I, Dennis Cherry, the Commodore of Seagull Bay Yacht Club, am very optimistic at this time as to our future relationship with the Bureau of Reclamation. We have another meeting Nov. 28 with Power County Commissioners and BOR to see if we can finalize an agreement with BOR, Power County and Seagull Bay. (Seagull Bay Yacht Club has operated it for the past 60 years.)

This has been quite a ride to get to this point. I would like to thank the Power County Commissioners for their great assistance and cooperation in this endeavor, and other involved such as: Doug Balfour, our attorney; Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries, for all of his support; Bingham County Commissioners; Bingham County Sheriffs Office, the Power County Waterways Board and the BOR.

I would also like to give a special thank you to the board members of Seagull Bay, especially the treasurer, Kathy Lilya. I appreciate all her work and efforts in all the additional paperwork and time involved in this ordeal. I would also like to thank our members and the people of Bannock County, Power County and Bingham counties for their support and patience through this. Commodore, Dennis Cherry.”