By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

More than a year after being destroyed in a July 4, 2019, storm, a heated fishing dock at Marion County Lake still floats on the water in shambles.

Its walkway, left folded perilously when the storm ripped the dock from the four cables and four steel pipes that held it in place and rammed it to the shore, was later straightened by moving the shore end of the walkway up onto the lake’s bank.

The walkway now lies flat, but is blocked off with fencing. A sign reads, “Park and Lake heated dock is closed to all.”

Lockers and benches were removed so they can be used in the rebuilt structure.

Ben’s Boat Docks in Kechi was hired to build a new floating, heated dock and remove the old dock after the county’s insurance company agreed to cover the cost. Their bid was $203,900.

The company said earlier this year that a flotation manufacturer from which flotation devices were ordered had temporarily closed because of COVID-19. As recently as May, work was expected to be completed by late July.

Lake superintendent Isaac Hett went to Kechi to look and see if the frame for a new dock was completed as Ben’s Boat Docks said it was.

“He has the frame pretty much together,” Hett said.

Hett is still wondering when further progress will be made.

“I never imagined it to turn out the way it has,” Hett said.

Ben’s Boat Docks has already been paid an $87,000 down payment on the work. The balance is due upon completion.

Hett expressed his concerns to county commissioners and is arranging a trip to Ben’s Boat Docks with county commissioner Dave Crofoot to discuss when the boat dock can finally be completed.