After that contentiious public hearing on new fees for leasing state property adjacent to public waterways and for new dock fees on lakes and rivers, the Iowa DNR says it will drop proposed rule changes. That word from Department of Natural Resources deputy director Liz Christiansen after a meeting in Des Moines yesterday. Chief DNR Law Enforcement officer Lowell Joslin presided over the hearing Monday night where a constant parade of great lakes business owners said the new fees will run them out of business.
Yesterday we spoke to Joan Schneider of Okoboji, a member of the Natural Resources Commission who says she was taken aback by the negative impact the proposed rules would have.
ROLL #4945X …:45 …. IS FAIR.
Schneider hopes the DNR will work with business owners to come up with a fee structure both the state and private businesses can agree on.
ROLL #4945Z ….:30 …. PUT ANYBODY OUT.
A news release from the Department of Natural Resources office in Des Moines says the staff at the DNR will recommend exactly that … scrapping changes in chapters 16 and 18 and starting fresh.
Schneider tells KUOO News there were many good proposals she hopes will be kept when new changes are written.
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