10.05.18

Senate Passes Hoeven Legislation Enabling Homeowners Around Patterson Lake & Jamestown Reservoir to Purchase Lots

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, today announced that the U.S. Senate has passed his legislation to enable homeowners around Patterson Lake and the Jamestown Reservoir to purchase their lots. The ENR committee approved the legislation earlier this year.

Specifically, the bills transfer lots at Patterson Lake (S. 440) to the Dickinson Parks and Recreation Department and land around the Jamestown Reservoir (S. 2074) to the Stutsman County Park Board. Homeowners will then have the opportunity to purchase their land from these local entities.

“Homeowners at Patterson Lake and around the Jamestown Reservoir should have the ability to purchase the land and lots they have invested in and developed,” Hoeven said. “We appreciate the assistance of the homeowner associations and local, state and federal officials in Dickinson and Jamestown for working with us to help write and advance this legislation. We are committed to working with our colleagues in the House to pass these bills so they can be signed into law as soon as possible and provide homeowners with the much-deserved security of owning the properties they live on.”  

Patterson Lake Legislation

Hoeven’s Patterson Lake legislation:

  • Transfers 41 cabin lots, and additional recreation and wildlife management lands, to the Dickinson Parks and Recreation Department. It also transfers a parcel of land, currently being leased, to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
  • Directs that proceeds exceeding the costs of preparing residential lots for sale be used for administrative costs and deferred maintenance of the dam. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) would continue to maintain responsibility over the reservoir and dam. 

Jamestown Reservoir Legislation

Hoeven’s Jamestown Reservoir legislation:

  • Permanently transfers federal lands around Jamestown Reservoir – including 71 permitted exclusive use cabin lots, two campgrounds, a park and unpurchased lots – to the Stutsman County Park Board and the North Dakota Game and Fish at no cost. 
  • Directs that proceeds exceeding the costs of preparing residential lots for sale be used for administrative costs and deferred maintenance of the dam. The BOR would continue to maintain responsibility over the reservoir and dam. 

Hoeven’s Patterson Lake and Jamestown Reservoir bills follow his successful efforts to limit permit fee increases for permittees on Patterson Lake, the Jamestown Reservoir and Lake Tschida. The BOR had proposed to more than double the cost of fees and the senator’s legislation limited the total fee increase to no more than 33 percent over 5 years.

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