GF&P commission considers selling marina, restaurant

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YANKTON (AP) — The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks Commission will explore selling the Lewis and Clark Marina and its associated restaurant or at least separating the leases.

Doug Hofer, state parks director, said the marina’s current operator, Russ Marsh, has a 10-year lease that extends through the end of next year, and Marsh has communicated that he wants out of the agreement.

The commission unanimously agreed to some significant changes to the proposed lease and decided to proceed with a 60-day request for proposals during a special teleconference meeting Thursday, the media reported.

Marsh provided the department with a list of his personal property, which includes the docks and kitchen equipment and proposed a $2.8 million asking price, Hofer said. The GF&P believes about $140,000 worth of the items on the list belong to the state, and Hofer said the price could be reduced accordingly.

The commission agreed to also offer the marina and the restaurant as separate leases.

“That gives somebody who is only interested in operating the marina a chance to bid just the marina and someone who is only interested in operating the restaurant to bid on the restaurant only,” Hofer said.

In the existing lease, the GF&P has a base rent of $42,000 annually for the facilities, plus an amount equal to 7 percent of all gross receipts in excess of $700,000.

In the new lease, a separate franchise fee structure would be put in place for the marina and restaurant operations. Marina-based operations will be assessed a 7.5 percent franchise fee. The restaurant would be assessed a minimum of 4 percent.

If there are separate leases, the franchise fees would remain the same for the marina but be increased to 5 percent for the restaurant because of higher administrative costs for the state.

Hofer said that if the property does not sell during this round, Marsh will continue to operate the marina this season.

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