Rental cabins at Banner still under consideration
The Jackson County Commissioners and John Kennedy, Banner Creek Reservoir director, are eager to provide rental cabins at the reservoir, but due to budget uncertainties, they are looking at “creative ways” to possibly fund the construction.
At Monday’s commission meeting, Kennedy presented a proposal for the construction and installation of two cabins at the reservoir from Steve Boeding Design Build LLC of Seneca. The three commissioners and Kennedy recently traveled together to Seneca to view Boeding’s workshop and examples of his work.
The proposal includes the construction of a one-bedroom treehouse-style cabin, ideal for two people, that includes a bathroom, kitchen and small living area at a cost of $59,500.
A second cabin was also proposed that would include a bedroom and loft area that would house four to six people. That cabin would also include a bathroom, kitchen and living room area at a cost of $60,909.
An additional estimated $10,800 would be needed to install two 1,500 gallon septic tanks at the cabins, instead of a lagoon, and electrical and water service.
A piece of equipment would also need to be rented by the county at an estimated cost of $4,000 to lift and place the smaller treehouse-style cabin off the ground on columns, it was reported.
The total cost of both cabins with the additional expenses is estimated at $135,209.
“As much as I want to do this, right now with the tax lid bill being discussed at the state, I think we may have to put this on hold,” said Commissioner Janet Zwonitzer. “The tax lid bill is very scary.”
Kennedy discussed several options to purchase one or both cabins. He said that the Banner Creek Reservoir capital improvement fund could be utilized to purchase and install one of the cabins. He said he is also interested in seeking sponsorships or advertising rights for the cabins’ construction.
“If we could get someone or a business to give us $60,000, we could put their name on the cabin for 10 years,” Kennedy said. “We’d do a formal contract saying it would be named in their honor.”
The commissioners agreed that Kennedy could pursue sponsorships to build the cabins and said the county could contribute the $14,800 in additional installation fees, if a cabin sponsorship was secured at $60,000.
Kennedy asked whether any potential sponsor would have to pay the estimated $60,000 for a cabin upfront or if they could pay $6,000 a year for 10 years.
Commissioner Zwonitzer said that she didn’t think the county could cover the cost of a cabin right now and wait for the reimbursements over the next several years.
“Until we find out what happens at the Legislature, I don’t think we can,” Zwonitzer said. “I would love to have them out there, but we’re going to have to be real creative with how we do it.”
Commissioner Rob Ladner, who had previously conducted some research on area cabins, said that cabins usually rent for $100 to $110 per night during the warmer seasons and $65 to $75 a night in the off season.
“What we need to look at is not how much people are charging but how many nights they are being rented,” Ladner said. “They are all easily full more than 200 nights a year. If not more.”
Kennedy said that most cabins – like the ones proposed here – pay for themselves in rental fees after three to five years.
“If we could get these paid for, that would be pretty good revenues for the lake,” Kennedy said. “That’s an additional $20,000 a year for just one cabin.”
Commissioner Bill Elmer questioned how Kennedy would monitor the new septic tanks.
“It’s just all the other things we check around the lake periodically,” Kennedy said. “The tanks would just be added to the list. At first, we’d probably check them every week to see how it was going.”
Elmer also asked who would clean the cabins after each visit.
“We could have a part-time employee clean them or we could contract it out,” said Kennedy, who noted that the cabins would not be supplied with any linens. “Most state cabins are contracted out. I’ve also seen camp hosts clean them. I have no problem cleaning cabins in the winter time when it’s not that busy.”
Kennedy said he will get more information from the state on how cabins are managed, as well as generate a list of potential individuals and businesses to approach about potential cabin sponsorships.