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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/21/02 MINUTES OF THE LAKE ADVISORY COMMITTEE May 21,2002 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Braddy called the Lake Advisory Committee (LAC) Meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. Members present: Dale Braddy, Charles Gerlach, Lauren Huntington, Shirley Gengler, and Dan O'Keefe. Others present: Councilmember Jim Peterson, Mark Hartman; Scott County Sheriff's Department, Dave Moran, Marv Mirsch, Holly Nordvick; Prior Lake American, Rick Brasch; Bonestroo, Anderlik, Rosene & Associates, Police Officer Tom Kahlert; Sue McDermott; City Engineer, Larry Poppler; Assistant City Engineer, and Judy Pint; Engineering Secretary . II. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 19, 2002 MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY GENGLER, SECONDED BY HUNTINGTON TO APPROVE THE MARCH 19, 2002 MEETING MINUTES. UPON A VOTE TAKEN, MOTION PASSED UNA NIMO USL Y. III. PRESENTATION BY MARK HARTMAN, SCOTT COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT ON LAKE SURFACE WATER ENFORCEMENT ISSUES Chair Braddy introduced Mark Hartman who represented the Scott County Sheriff's Department. Braddy asked Hartman to address various lake issues such as the size of boats, number of boats, and the speed of boats on Prior Lake. Hartman said that boaters love speed and that unfortunately speed kills. He noted that Minnetonka has a 40 m.p.h. daytime speed limit 7 days a week. Speed enforcement is a big problem. I Deputy Hartman said that they use radar to enforce speed limits but radar can only detect the speed of the boat when the boat is coming toward or away from an officer. Boaters are stopped for speed but given tickets for other violations such as not having the proper amount of life jackets or a fire extinguisher on board. Noise is another factor. Hartman said that big boats do not seem to contribute to the problem. 1 Braddy asked what the LAC could do to help enforce ordinances. Hartman responded saying that the City's surface water ordinances and penalties should be posted at all lake accesses, the Wagon Bridge Marina, and other docking areas. The Scott County dispatch number should also be posted. Hartman said during holidays or heavy lake use days, etc., the lake can have as many as 150 boats in one area of the lake at one time (eg. Candy Cove). Braddy asked how many boats were too many? Hartman responded it takes more than two deputies on the lake at a time to patrol the lake for safety purposes. Kahlert added that two officers are needed in the event of a rescue. Gerlach questioned Hartman, what is the Sheriff's Department's biggest concern? Hartman responded that jet skis pose the biggest problem for them. Many drivers are inexperienced and jet skis are not easily maneuvered. Braddy asked what could the LAC or lake owners do to make his job easier. Hartman again noted that Prior Lake does not have enough manpower. He said that deputies double up on weekends and most times there is still not enough coverage. Hartman said that within the next five years the Sheriff's Department would like to have two full time officers on duty at the same time. He suggested that members contact County Commissioners and express their concerns. Braddy questioned the cost of adding additional staffing. Hartman explained that the deputies are on the lake approximately 10 hours a day. Six of those hours are spent patrolling during the week and ten hours during the weekends. The remaining hours are used for processing permits, organizing safety camps, etc. Processing a BUI takes 3-4 hours. Mirsch asked if property owners or volunteers could assist? Hartman said Hennepin County has a citizen patrol. He estimated that it would cost an additional $10,000 for extra patrol. Hartman said that Mary Clark is in charge of reserves. Her number is 496- 8322. Gerlach questioned the effect of alcohol on the lake. It is not illegal to have an open container in a boat, but it is extremely difficult to determine if someone driving a boat on the lake has had too much to drink. Braddy questioned whether boaters could drink beer and drive. Hartman answered affirmative. Braddy mentioned incorporating a Lake Watch Program. The problem Hartman said is that both the boat and the driver has to be identified before any enforcement of any rules can take place. Gengler mentioned that signs could be put at the end of docks specifying which citizens are members of the Lake Watch. 2 Mirsch mentioned the possibility that the Prior Lake American print boating offenses in the weekly paper such as they do for other violations. Holly Nordvick representing the Prior Lake American took note of his request. Gerlach questioned whether a safety check could be done without stopping a boater. Officer Kahlert responded no. Gengler mentioned that she has noticed that when there is a No-Wake Ordinance in affect, that the lake is less crowded and appears to be safer. Braddy thanked Hartman for attending the LAC meeting. IV. OLD BUSINESS a. City Zoning Ordinance Relating to Docks: Huntington asked if Prior Lake had an ordinance as to how many docks could be on the lake. McDermott cited the zoning ordinance. Mirsch questioned the city's ordinance regarding dock slips. McDermott said our ordinance mirrored the DNR's ordinance. No action on this item was required. b. Crystal Bay Development Concept Plan: McDermott showed the concept plan for the Crystal Bay Development and stated that there were various rumors as to how many dock slips would be allowed in the development. McDermott mentioned that the dock slips were determined by the shoreland ordinance. McDermott reiterated that Crystal Bay Development is still going through the planning and review process. Huntington mentioned that it appeared that the development was moving quicker than usual. McDermott replied that it may appear that way, but the developer has not moved forward for plan approval. O'Keefe asked if dredging of the bay in the new area was an option. McDermott responded that she had not been informed of dredging. She added that she would keep the LAC Committee informed as to any new plans. V. NEW BUSINESS a. Review CLMP Schedule (Comprehensive Lake Management Plan) 3 ----..-.-a-----. McDermott reviewed the two goals prioritized in the CLMP for 2002: Analyze data for need of additional regulation or enforcement and analyze data to evaluate need for additional education and enforcement. Rick Brasch from Bonestroo, Anderlik, Rosene, & Associates addressed the LAC Committee. He inquired what lake issues were the most important to LAC. He spoke about the survey done by Steve McComas of Blue Water Science for the City of White Bear Lake. The survey included both summer and winter use of the lake. The White Bear Lake survey cost approximately $24,000.00. Some of the items it addressed were shoreland erosion problems and what affect a speeding motorboat has on the bottom of the lake. Braddy expressed interest in reading the report and would like to see if a survey is needed. Brasch said he had a copy of the results but not a complete copy of the survey to distribute to LAC members. Moran requested a copy be sent to the Prior Lake/Spring Lake Watershed District as well. Gengler asked if there was a way to measure the amount of boats on specific parts of the lake on heavy use days. Brasch said one way to do this was to use an aerial photograph taken on a peak day to see how many boats are on the lake at that time. He also said that a survey would provide concrete data that can be compared to other measurement standards. Mirsch questioned McDermott regarding the community survey that was done in 1999. McDermott said she would bring a copy to the next meeting. Braddy would like the survey concept to go to the City Council for their review. Gerlach said that the biggest issue was not dock slips, but where are people parking their trailers after launching their boats in the water and how many boats were in the water. Huntington questioned how many boats are launched at Sand Point and what type of control was there. McDermott said Sand Pointe is not staffed full time. Braddy said the LAC should prepare for the next meeting and take action at that time. Brasch suggested that each member of the LAC the ten most important items that they would like to have included in a survey. The LAC could then review the items and determine which items were most important for the survey. 4 Braddy said that the City Council, LAC and Watershed should discuss this item before an actual study is done. O'Keefe questioned what the LAC would want surveyed: Items could be as follows: 1. Intensity of the lake 2. Size of boats 3. Speed limits, etc. 4. Safety McDermott will distribute copies of White Bear Lake survey results prior to next meeting for members to review. Gengler questioned the Shoreline Restoration project. She asked if the project was going to be continued and what project was scheduled for this year. McDermott mentioned Island View and she said that she would bring the Shoreland Restoration information to the next meeting. Mirsch asked about getting the City logo on disk Upeg format). McDermott said the Engineering Department could provide a jpeg file for him and they could also scan the PLSL watershed logo. The logos are needed for signs that will be installed at the shoreline restoration sites. b. Review Existing Surface Water Ordinance Requirements c. No Phosphorus Posters Braddy mentioned that the Prior Lake Spring Lake Watershed had done a excellent job on the design of the No Phosphorus Posters. He felt the posters should be placed in hardware stores, restaurants, etc. McDermott added that the posters have already been placed for in City Hall, Lakefront Park, the Library, etc. for the public to view. Mirsch added that he wrote an article regarding the Lake Friendly Check List for the Wavelength. He added that the Watershed District had also hired an intern to work with lakeshore owners on this project. McDermott mentioned that the Parks Advisory, City Council, Planning Commission, and LAC were invited to take a land and lake tour on Monday, July 29th at 4:00 P.M. The tour will include visiting new developments as well as a tour of the lake. The new Laker Lines bus and the Charles Prior II will be used for the tour. Dinner will be served. d. As brought up by LAC Members Gerlach said that he would be running for District 35A representative seat and that he will be officially resigning after the next LAC meeting. 5 Braddy said that they had three very good candidates interview for the last LAC vacancy and suggested expanding the committee by one more individual. Gengler thanked McDermott for including the Planning Commission Minutes in the LAC packets. She said they were very informative and extremely helpful to her. She questioned the amount of variances that were passed. She commented about bigger homes being built on smaller lots and the impact this would have on the lake and what the LAC's role should be. McDermott and Petersen explained the variance process. VI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY BRADDY, SECONDED BY HUNTINGTON TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Sue McDermott City Engineer Judy Pint Recording Secretary 6