ABOVE: Through the rain and snow, Garrett Myren works to assemble a dock Tuesday afternoon in Fairmont. Though the weather hasn’t been ideal so far, people are anxious to get docks and lifts in the water. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT – Though the temperatures don’t feel like spring, the lakes have thawed and docks are making it onto Fairmont lakes.

For the city, it started March 26 with the boat landing docks at Gomsrud and Amber Parks. The rest will be placed throughout the middle and end of April. While the weather has not been ideal for dock assembly and placement, Street and Park Supervisor Nick Lardy said they have a different reason for holding off.

“We like to hold off a little while to let the water levels stabilize,” he said. “With spring thaw we can get a rise in water. That’s why we wait longer for the others. With these two, people can get on the lake now.”

There are 19 docks in total the city places along the five lakes, with 17 still needing to be added. While none of the city fishing docks have been placed, Lardy said people can fish from shore on city land.

For property owners, businesses have been hard at work getting everything ready. Even in the off-season, Water’s Edge owner Garrett Myren was preparing for spring.

“I make sure I got all my tools ready,” he said. “Get everything checked. If anything’s broken, I’ve got to replace it. Get ready as the ice is heading out, make sure I’m in contact with potential new customers and in touch with customers that like to be first on the list.”

This year, he has an additional responsibility added on. The PortaDock franchise licensing has been transferred from A & J Docks to Water’s Edge.

“I’ve been doing docks now for about three years,” Myren said “It’s always kind of been in the plan to take over the PortaDock franchise from A & J Docks. We got a purchase agreement put together and I’m taking over the PortaDock franchise from now on.”

This is a new arena for Myren. Previously he had only done installation and removal of docks, as well as lake steps. Now he is going into the dock sales business. That hasn’t slowed down his installations though.

“I already got in some docks,” Myren said. “I like to get in as many as I can before the initial rain. Lower water makes things a little bit easier. Although the water is colder, you don’t get as much water in your waders when you start early.”

Of all the lakes, Myren said Hall Lake is the most popular by virtue of having the most people in that area.

For both Myren and The Boat House Co-Owner Tucker Betts, the schedule has been light thus far due to the unfavorable conditions. Betts said next week is when appointments will start to pick up.

“Depends on the wind and weather,” he said. “The wind makes it hard, especially putting in boat lifts. It can be hard on docks, too. Otherwise, next week is starting to warm up a little bit, we’ll start floating some out.”

In the last few years, business has gotten easier for The Boat House thanks to the addition of their own barge. With it, they can carry an assembled dock from one place to another. Before, it had to be manually floated over using pontoons or small boats.

Betts said they have a couple hundred lifts and docks, in different sizes and styles depending on the boat, lake depth and shore conditions they’re looking at.

“It all depends on the dock,” he said. “Where it’s at, the setup; they all have different configurations. Whether they want platforms on the end, ramps onto shore, how big, how many boat lifts they put on. It all changes.”

So far the demand has been normal. Betts said it got really busy around COVID due to pandemic relief funds, but now it has gone back to standard levels.

“It’s a big deal,” he said. “It’s required. Somebody’s got to do it, and we’re glad to do it. We plan on being around for a long time doing it.”