Private development of Lake Texoma considered

Saturday, April 16th 2005, 11:42 am

By: News On 6

KINGSTON, Okla. (AP) _ Several hundred acres of Lake Texoma State Park property, including acreage that encompasses the resort's lodge and golf course, may soon be in the hands of a private developer, state officials said Friday.

The Commissioners of the Land Office expect to receive an appraisal for 750 acres of resort property next week. The office intends to purchase the land from the state Tourism Department and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Robb Gray, the Tourism Department's executive director, expects the appraisal to trigger a series of actions that will lead to private development of the state-owned land.

``This is groundbreaking stuff,'' Gray said. ``This is the first state resort that will be privately developed, and we are very excited about the economic development that will take place down there and the impact it will have on towns like Kingston and Madill.''

The Lake Texoma Resort lodge, two golf courses, an airstrip and some older cabins are on the land intended for sale. The state Tourism Department will maintain a presence in an area that includes Catfish Bay Marina and some campgrounds, Land Office Secretary Clifton Scott said.

Proposal packets will be mailed to 300 potential developers nationwide by the end of May, Scott said. The highest or best bidder will be allowed to lease the property for the next 55 years at a yet-to-be determined price.

Developers are being asked to build a four- or five-star resort, remodel or replace the current 106-room lodge with a ``family oriented'' hotel, construct new cabins and sell housing lots around the resort's highly regarded Chickasaw Pointe Golf Course. Lots could sell for between $125,000 and $200,000, he said.

Cash generated from the housing lot sales and property taxes collected from the developed property would be deposited into the School Land Trust, which is overseen by the Land Office. Legislators are allowing for up to 3 percent, or $36 million, of the trust's $1.2 billion for the purchase of the resort land, Scott said.

Lake Texoma's lodge employs 33 people full-time and 34 seasonally with a total payroll of $1.18 million. Tourism spokesman Mike Fina said the resort made $340,000 in 2004 _ the largest amount among the state's four resorts.

``The bottom line is if we invested more money, we probably could make more money down there,'' Fina said. ``But years of neglect and inadequate state funding have put us in this position. This is something we're all excited about.''

Some, however, are wary.

Robert Cartlidge, chairman of Oklahoma Anglers Unlimited, said he has spoken with several fisherman who are concerned private owners could limit access to the lake.

``Access to our waters is a prime concern to us,'' Cartlidge said. ``As our waters get more and more and more crowded, we have to work together and make sure everybody has access. The fear for us is that in private hands they would want to charge for access to the lake, and that's just not acceptable.''