03-14-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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LLRC has its own history with the Dayton family. Organized rowing on Long Lake likely started because of a simple invitation by Mr. Bruce Dayton back in 2008. Our assistant coach, Sandi McCarthy, was a personal trainer at the Marsh, and Mr. Dayton was regularly onsite because his wife was an owner. Sandi also was a volunteer who conducted Woodrill hikes on his property. At a reception at his home, he suggested that Coach Sandi bring her indoor rowing clients to Long Lake for real on-the-water instruction. These were the first private rowing lessons on Long Lake. Before that, Mr. Mark Dayton bought the boat Sandi rowed for the 2000 Olympic Trials. This boat, named the Sandiego, is still being rowed competitively in Minnesota. In 2009, Mark Dayton also became a client of Coach Sandi. Around 2014, the late James Dayton, an architect, and Long Lake shoreline resident, designed a spectacular boathouse for Long Lake Rowing Crew, intended to replace the old Billy’s Lighthouse before it became Birch’s. Unfortunately, as a brand new organization, still trying to establish itself and secure a fleet, LLRC was not in a financial position to buy the lot and build. We feel it was right to table our application at the time, regardless of what anyone who has spent the recent past vilifying us thinks. We were hoping for some direction and clarification from the city as well. An hour before the January 18th Planning Commission meeting, and on the heels of the Dayton letter, a credible threat of violence was made against our organization and its rowers. In light of the fact that some lake users have routinely harassed our kids and adults on the water, the decision was made to pull all the speakers we had lined up for the evening—the adults, community people, residents, and especially the youth—and not expose them to a rapidly deteriorating environment. We’re glad we did it. Here are some corrections to some statements made on social media about LLRC: • We are not a commercial organization. • We are not a private club. • We are a non-profit, volunteer-driven 501(c)(3). • We don’t have deep pockets, as has been suggested. I mentioned that in order to fund the design process and pay the application fees, we had to sell some equipment and fundraise.