Over the past few days, boat owners who dock at the Jenny Wiley Marina have been confronted with threats from the Kentucky Department of Parks Commissioner, threats of significant monetary penalties if the boat owners have not removed their boats from the marina before September 15, 2025. At the outset, one is left to ask the rhetorical question as to what authority the Commissioner has to impose fines on the boat owners if they do not meet the arbitrary deadline, a deadline created out of whole cloth.
At the outset, it should be noted that the Jenny Wiley Marina is long overdue for an upgrade. In fact, in the words of the Commissioner, these upgrades and repairs were required by the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers. The Commissioner is correct. However, in the words of Paul Harvey, what the Commissioner fails to acknowledge is that the upgrades and repairs have been required by the Corps of Engineers from at least August of 2020.
One would hope that the Commissioner and his staff review the annual compliance reports, reports which have been provided to the Secretary of the Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet annually. For example, in a letter dated August 19, 2020, to then Secretary Robert H. Stewart, the Real Estate Division of the Corps of Engineers wrote, “There were numerous instances of safety hazards with regard to the boards on some of the docks and waterways which include slips 119-150. Many of the boards are extremely deteriorated/broken and there are large gaps between the walkway and fingers that constitute as a tripping hazard. Also, various areas of floatation on the docks/walkways are not sufficient to support the decking and/or pedestrian traffic on the walkway.”
So, the question which needs to be asked is what, if anything, did the Cabinet do in response to the safety hazards noted in 2020? Sadly, the answer is that the Cabinet DID NOT do anything. In a letter dated August 20, 2021, to the then Jenny Wiley State Park Manager, the earlier safety hazards were again noted along with numerous other hazards, many of which still exist in August of 2025.
Sadly, what the bureaucrats in Frankfort fail to understand is that Dewey Lake is not only important, it is a critical cornerstone of tourism for Floyd County and Eastern Kentucky. Without access to Dewey Lake, the tourism dollars so important to the economy of the region will dry up (pardon the pun).
One is left to wonder why the Commissioner is unwilling to discuss a way to repair and replace the Jenny Wiley Marina in a manner without punishing those boat owners who have docked their boats at the marina for years. There are alternatives to ordering everyone to remove their boats from the marina before September 15, 2025. Some of these alternatives would be to drydock many of the smaller boats in the parking lot of the Jenny Wiley Theatre; or there is always the possibility of moving the boats to the old Thunder Ridge location where the boats can be stored during the upgrade; or better yet, the boats can be moved at the existing marina on a rotating basis while one section is repaired and replaced, and then another section can be replaced.
Of course, before any suggestions can be discussed, the Commissioner needs to be willing to discuss alternatives with the boat owners. Sadly, it appears that as a bureaucrat the Commissioner is of the belief that his word is supreme.
On a final note, a question which necessarily needs to be answered is whether the failure of the Commonwealth to address safety hazards voids the lease agreement for the operation of Dewey Lake and Jenny Wiley State Park with the Corps of Engineers. More importantly, the question which absolutely needs to be answered is whether the Commonwealth has entered into a new lease agreement with the Corps of Engineers for the operation of Dewey Lake and Jenny Wiley State Park? If not, the current 50-year lease expires on August 31, 2025, which removes any authority from the Commonwealth to order the boat owners to do anything, let alone evict them from the marina.
In the end, the words Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous American architect, designer, writer and educator, ring true today when he wrote, “Bureaucrats: they are dead at 30 and buried at 60. They are like custard pies; you can't nail them to a wall.”
