The Lake Neshonoc Protection and Rehabilitation District and residents got to tell the county how they really felt last week.

In a joint meeting between the lake district and county officials on June 23, board officials and lakeside property owners had the opportunity to air concerns and inquire about future county plans with the lake.

Lake district board chair Jim Leicht began the meeting with a history of the lake and the district, noting issues that have come up with the county. Leicht noted the lake district and the county have worked together in the past, but he also said there is the impression that the county does what it wants when it wants.

“The county has been a partner, but it’s been kind of a minor partner,” Leicht said.

The meeting was initiated, in part, due to a recent disagreement with the county selling sand that was taken from the lake during a dredging project eight years ago.

In 2000-01, the district and county entered into a partnership to dredge Lake Neshonoc and remove sediment from the lakebed. The $2.23 million project removed 1.1 million cubic yards of sediment, most of which was sand, and the lake district and county each paid $1 million with the remaining cost funded through a state grant.

The sand has been stored on what is known as the County Farm, owned by the county. Since 2003, the county has sold sand, although the lake district has not received any of the proceeds. In May, the lake district passed a resolution requesting La Crosse County reimburse it for at least half the money the county received for selling sand and half of any sand sales in the future.

At last week’s meeting, Leicht said he plans to move forward in submitting the resolution to the county board at a future date. County Administrator Steve O’Malley said the lake district has that right, but he questioned why the issue was just brought up recently.

“It hasn’t been hidden by anybody,” O’Malley said.

Most of last week’s meeting, though, was dominated by a survey the county sent to lake district residents in 2006 and the subsequent selling of shoreline.

The issue came up a couple years ago when it was discovered the county owned shoreline on which a number of property owners had docks; the county owns the lakebed and the waterline had receded since original surveys were done. Private landowners cannot have docks on public property, but, following a questionnaire sent to lake district residents, the county board offered to sell the land to adjacent property owners.

Leicht said he felt the county-issued survey was underhanded, adding the board was upset that they weren’t even notified about it.

“I question the validity of it,” Leicht said.

However, County Planner Charlie Handy and Director of the La Crosse County Facilities Department James Speropulos defended the survey. At that time, they said county staff debated how to best approach the land issue — either force residents take out their docks or sell the land — because they knew many residents were emotionally involved.

“Staff really wrestled with this,” Handy said. “I apologize heavily if anyone was offended.”

However, a bigger issue with property owners along Lake Neshonoc was the county’s asking price for the land, which in most cases is a strip of shoreline. The county had the land appraised, but some lake district residents felt the asking price was too much while others accused the county of trying to make money off an opportune moment.

“It has no value,” said resident Dave Hundt. “I think you guys were fed some phony baloney.”

Handy said he took offense to accusations that county staff was acting maliciously and unethically.

“I take that very personally,” said Handy, who added the lake district can hire their own appraiser if they think the land is overvalued.

O’Malley agreed that there was no intent to deceitfully sell land to residents and pointed out it’s the county staff’s job to gather information and it’s the county board’s job to make decisions.

“Staff doesn’t go off into a dark corner and implement (decisions),” O’Malley said. “The board makes the decisions.”

In addition to the lakebed, the county also owns property along Lake Neshonoc, and Leicht and the lake district officials questioned the county’s care of such shoreline. Leicht said there are areas where trees have fallen into the lake and the shoreline is eroding.

“I think La Crosse County is the only property owner who has done nothing to fix things,” Leicht said. “Your shoreline is the one that’s causing the most problems.”

County officials said they would work with the lake district to correct issues with shoreline the county owns. In addition, O’Malley and La Crosse County Board Chair Steve Doyle said they would like to work with the lake district and address any future issues.

County board member Charles Spiker — who chairs the La Crosse County Public Works and Infrastructure Committee — said he hopes to strengthen communication between the county and lake district.

“We sincerely want to help the people up here,” Spiker said. “We made the board’s decisions (in the past) with the information we had. It sounds like we need to tighten up communication with the lake board.”

Leicht said he appreciated county officials and staff for listening to the lake district’s concerns and hopes to work more closely with the county in the future.

“I appreciate the county staff and county officials for coming,” Leicht said. “Obviously we have an important piece of the puzzle, so we get a little sensitive ... (but) we think we can work together hopefully.”