Muskego could launch a boat access plan

Muskego - To protect the most reliable access the public has to Big Muskego Lake, the Common Council last week gave the go-ahead for an appraisal that would be the first step in the city possibly buying a boat launch located beside the Boxhorn Gun Club.

For about 10 years, the city has leased the boat launch from the gun club, at W13960 Boxhorn Drive, to provide the public access to the lake. But that lease is only good for another 10 years.

The gun club owner has said that if the club were to go away, he would like to develop the entire property, resulting in the city's access to the launch, said Craig Anderson, director of parks and recreation.

The only other public boat launch on the Big Muskego Lake is at Durham Drive. But for the last two years, boaters have found the channel leading from the launch to the lake blocked by floating islands of cattails, Anderson said.

"Boxhorn is the superior public access," he said.

In addition, Boxhorn provides a lot of the parking required by the state Department of Natural Resources for public access to a lake the size of Big Muskego Lake, Anderson said.

The DNR requires 47 stalls. As of now, Boxhorn has 25 and Durham only five. However, the Durham Road project has a parking lot component that will beef up the number of Durham spaces to 19, he said.

To pay for the Boxhorn boat launch, Anderson said he would try to capture a share of some of the landfill fees Veolia Environmental Services pays the city to operate a landfill in Muskego. He also would apply for grants. Despite that, tax money might be needed, he added.

The movement toward the city acquiring control of the Boxhorn launch pleases him, Anderson said.

"The Park and Rec Board has been wanting to do this for a number of years. It's good to see the gun club come up with an option that's a win-win for everybody," he said.

The gun club would invest the money into the club, and the city would not only control the launch, but could make improvements. Officials would like to create a better docking system involving floating piers and installing a permanent concrete ramp extension on the lake bottom, he said.

Currently, the piers are anchored in the lake bottom and are heavy and hard to take out for winter, he said. Floating ones would be far easier.

A concrete ramp underwater would make it easier for cars to back into the water to launch, he said. Currently, they back onto a lake bottom. The proposed arrangement would be more like that at Idle Isle, he said.

- Jane Ford-Stewart