Ice house slowly sinking on Prior Lake

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Usually, this time of year, there would be hundreds of ice houses on lower Prior Lake. But this year, there is only one in sight and it's more in the lake than on it.

"It probably happens every two or three years, so not regular. A lot of times, it's vehicles, not ice houses. But this year it happens to be an ice house," said neighbor Wayne Svenby.

Neighbors say they've noticed the fish house about 300 feet from shore slowly sinking into the water.

They say other anglers moved similar structures from the frozen lake before our recent warm weather made the ice too thin to do so safely.

"It has gone down and actually popped back up, so I think it is floating now," said Svenby.

The Scott County Sheriff's Office says the fish house's co-owners were notified of the situation last Friday and have 30 days to remove it before they face possible fines or civil penalties.

If the local authorities have to get it out, by state law, they can charge the owners up to three times the removal fee.

"I've been mainly texting and sending pictures to my friends, and everyone is like wow. So sorry someone has to be like that," said Svenby.

One of the co-owners says there is nothing in the ice house that would contaminate the water, but they are waiting for another cold snap before they fish it out of the lake.

"I hope they get it off. They usually do every year. We've had it before where they drag it up to an axis and pull the stuff out, but it just takes time," said Svenby.

The DNR says the deadline for ice house removal for the lower 2/3rds of the state is 11:59 p.m. on March 4.