Fontana Lake users who once frequented the now-defunct Greasy Branch Marina want another one built in its place — but just who will be paying for it is up in the air.

The U.S. Forest Service terminated Greasy Branch’s permits to operate in March after owners Katie and Ken Konrad fell far behind on payments.

The agency told the Konrads to remove anything that belonged to them, including the actual marina structure that served as the hub of the boat dock — a place to buy gas and snacks or converse with fellow boaters. The Konrads unloaded the marina and other belongings to several Fontana docks.

Roberta Arsuffi, a Realtor and property owner in the Greasy Branch area, said the forest service acted too hastily. It should have taken over the dock but left things intact, Arsuffi said. She and other concerned property owners were on hand to plead their case to Swain County commissioners at a meeting last week.

“One thing that really irritated me was that the forest service went down and pulled out the boat dock,” she said. “If it was mismanaged, they should have hired new management. I feel like they threw they baby out with the bathwater.”

Greasy Branch users are suffering as a result of the forest service’s actions, they say.

“Any problems the forest service had and didn’t handle has been dumped on us,” said Mike Hyde, who kept a boat at the marina.

John Whitman, a long-time lake user, said, “It’s been a lost year.”

“I grew up in Haywood County and put 43 years in with Dayco and waited until I could move out here permanently,” said Whitman. “It was pure devastation to come in and find out they closed the marina.”

Changes in ownership, access

As part of the termination of Greasy Branch’s permits, the forest service kicked the 50-odd houseboat owners out of the marina. They then came knocking at the door of Tony Sherrill, owner of nearby Alarka Boat Dock.

“The forest service was wanting the house boats moved off the Greasy Branch area, and they were looking for somebody reputable and close by,” Sherrill said.

But Sherrill didn’t have the room to take on the extra boats.

“I could have maybe squeezed in about three,” he said. But losing the boats completely would have been a loss to the area.

“We were already losing a business over there, so it would have been kind of bad to have lost the house boats too,” Sherill said. “The tax base would have left Swain County. We worked hard to negotiate with the forest service to keep it intact. We tried to salvage something out of it.”

So the forest service granted Sherrill harbor rights to the Greasy Branch marina in order for Sherrill to use the space to put houseboats.

Essentially the area is now just a parking lot for houseboats. And soon, Greasy Branch users will lose more than their marina — they will also lose their access to the dock. The forest service plans to install a gate this week to close off the road to Greasy Branch.

Jeff Owenby, with the forest service, said the agency was left with no choice after people started taking advantage of the lack of monitoring in the area.

“There were a small percentage of people that were trashing it and having fires. It was becoming a situation where we didn’t feel like we could keep it open as an access point,” said Owenby. “We do have immediate plans within the next week or so of installing a gate and closing the road off.”

Users push to rebuild marina

Lake users want a new marina built at Greasy Branch and access to the area restored. That responsibility will fall to Sherrill, who now holds the harbor rights. But first, he’d have to get permission from the forest service.

The agency is somewhat hesitant. The Greasy Branch dock has hardly been a windfall under the Konrads and previous owners.

“Marina operators haven’t been very profitable — not enough to make it a go,” said Doris Doster of the forest service. “We’d have to do some studies to make sure it would be feasible and profitable.”

The forest service says that various existing access points to the lake mean the Greasy Branch marina might not be necessary.

“The wilderness marina is not very far up the road from Greasy Branch. That’s a free public access area, and that’s sufficient access to the lake,” Doster said.

Sherrill said lake users could probably make do with existing facilities.

“There are other avenues, it would just take some adjusting,” said Sherrill. “They’re not just shut off from the lake. It’s only like 10 minutes from Greasy Branch” to Alarka Boat Dock.

“There’s also another ramp that’s pretty close that’s a state access. You can just zip across the hill 10 minutes away,” he added.

But some users have major issues with the wilderness access point. Arsuffi said one man put his boat in the water and nearly put his truck in after it due to the steepness of the area.

It’s also currently difficult to access Greasy Branch from the Alarka Boat Dock, said Arsuffi. The lake angles sharply between the two docks, causing users to go all the way around the mountain to navigate between the two.

“It’s a major headache,” she said.

Without Greasy Branch, there’s also no convenient location to buy ice, snacks or gas — and users have lost their community hub. A lack of marina could also hurt property values.

“That’s a huge selling factor to have access to Lake Fontana within walking distance of your cabin,” said Arsuffi.

But who pays?

Sherrill and the forest service have been in talks about building a new marina at Greasy Branch. The idea of a new and improved marina is great in theory, says Sherrill, but the reality of paying for one is a different story.

“(The forest service) wants a more modernized marina, and I agree with them,” Sherill said. “But right now I just have to do a cost analysis to see what it will cost to put the marina back and how long it will take to recoup costs.”

Sherrill said a new marina will likely be expensive, and he’s not sure it will be financially feasible.

The forest service isn’t offering up any cash.

“The forest service itself doesn’t build docks or marinas — those are strictly through private funds,” Doster said.

Sherrill is currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. Lake users are looking to him to build a new marina, but his abrupt acquisition of Greasy Branch means he didn’t necessarily budget for one. Plus, he, like other dock owners, is still trying to recoup losses from last summer’s devastatingly low lake levels.

“There’s a lot of people complaining about the loss of property values and this and that and the other,” Sherrill said. “They’re the ones really yelling about a marina over there, and maybe some of them would want to donate.”

“They’re wanting it done tomorrow, but they’re wanting somebody else to do it and finance it,” he added.

Arsuffi makes no bones about who she thinks should pay for it — “the person who benefits from it,” she said. “He benefits in terms of the fact that people come to launch their boats, and rent slips, and little roofed areas. Before he opened the door, he made about $30,000.”

The Greasy Branch marina won’t open back up until next season. Arsuffi says Sherrill and the forest service should work together to get something up and running by then.

“Given the fact that it’s going to be closed down until next year, they’ve got time to plan a decent marina and parking area,” she said.

Arsuffi also hopes the Swain County commissioners will step in.

“I hope our commissioners can hold the forest service responsible to have a good boat dock – one that’s well managed, and one with adequate parking,” she said.

Commissioners aren’t sure how much sway they hold over the situation, but promised to keep an eye on it.

“Even if we don’t have that much input, we should have access to what’s going on and what’s happening,” said Commissioner Chairman Glenn Jones.

But if it’s all up to Sherrill to build a new marina, it may not materialize quickly.

“I’ve got my primary business I’m trying to look after and the houseboats I’m trying to accommodate,” he said. “The marina part, that’s going to be sometime in the future.”