10-14-2002 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Regular Board Meeting August 28,2002 s.cCTING OCT 1 4 2002 Cl I r ur URONO Pages 2. LAKE USE ft RECREATION A. Ordinance Amendment, Discussion of an ordinance prohibiting the use of motorized watercraft on certain parts of Lake Minnetonka, amending Section 3.022. Foster stated that he was unable to attend the 8/14/02 Board meeting when this ordinance amendment was discussed in detail. He asked Wert for his comments on the discussion at this meeting. Wert commented on the work of the Lake Minnetonka Wetlands Task Force, noting that there was a lot of information collected and discussed at a number of meetings. There were a number of alternatives brought forward to the Board, recalling the Board meeting in May when a straw poll vote on various options was taken. Foster expressed concern about moving the point of demarcation from the mouth of Six Mile Creek upstream as proposed in the ordinance amendment. He believed that the electric motor limitation in the ordinance currently approved would solve the vast majority of the concerns of the Board and would not preclude property owners from enjoying the riparian rights they are entitled to by having properties that abut Six Mile Creek. He supported the ordinance already approved by the Board, noting that the City of Minnetrista could adopt a more restrictive ordinance than the one approved by the District. Babcock stated that there have been examples in the past when the District has set baseline standards and member cities have adopted more restrictive ordinances than these standards. Suer^ stated that the Board has spent a lot of time considering an ordinance that would balance the environmental concerns with the riparian rights of owners that have properties that abut the creeks referenced in the ordinance amendment. He noted that ordinance adopted addresses other creeks in addition to Six Mile Creek and that he would like to move on. Knudsen stated that when the straw poll voted was taken by the Board this past May. he understood that more than one draft ordinance amendment would come back to the Board for ccnskteraticn. When one ordinance amendment came back to the Board in June, he was caught off guard when it did not take into consideration the request from the City of Minnetrista to protect the historical rights of the four property owners on Six Mile Creek. He stated that he did not recall the Board receiving expert testimony that propeller action from an electric motor would have less impact on the environment and wildlife than propeller action from a gas motor. McMillan stated that she was the Board member who made the motion for LeFavere to draft the ordinance amendment being discussed by the Board. She expressed concern about restricting the type of motor use in the creek and would favor eliminating areas of the creeks that have historical use from the adopted ordinance. She believed that the primary environmental advantage of electric motors compared to gas mo» 'S is that they do not have gas fumes. She believed the type of dock structure, whether there is removal of vegetation, and whether a dredge is required are other environmental concerns that should be considered by the Board. She stated that she would not support grandfathering because she believed that is not good policy on public waters. Nolson stated that he did r,c* support the draft ordinance amendment. He expressed support of the ordinance adopted because there was a significant amount of work done by the Task Force, it greatly improves the situation, and it was a compromise to preserve the riparian rights of property owners on these tributaries. He questioned the logic of moving the point of demarcations upstream on both Six Mile and Long Lake Creeks as proposed in the draft ordinance amendment. If the City of Minnetrista has a desire to restrict motorized watercraft upstream from a certain point of Six Mile Creek, he believed that they could adopt an ordinance amendment that was more restrictive than the one adopted by the Bosvd.