02-08-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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In its defense of the concept, LMCD insists that the fee and permit is not a mechanism to exclude nonresident boaters from the lake, but is a means to better control use as well as a revenue source. The Council could reserve further action on this issue until a documented study and management plan discussion fully explore the idea. As a member with DNR in the Metro Region Water Access Task Force, the Council can scarcely take a different position without compelling evidence. As an alternative, for an experimental period, could DNR and LMCD devise a pro- gram with a use sticker, to be required of all boaters on the lake, but with no fee requirement? This would provide the user control and the ownership, registration and user information of a permit and could reason- ably be said not to exclude anyone from the lake. It might be possible to recover the cost of such a program from a voluntary donation in lieu of a fee if the request makes it clear that the program's purpose was better and more enjoyable boating on Lake Minnetonka. 4 & 12 - LMCD as a Regional Operating Agency item 4 states LMCD should become an operating agency for launch facilities and other public access to the lake, and Item 12 states LMCD should be eligible for regional funding for lake access facilities. The Council decision on these items could be affected by two events not yet in. First, the LMCD management plan will need to discuss and justify this major step. Second, the Council's recommendation for a Lake Minnetonka Regional Park stated that LMCD should be considered as a regional implementing agency if Hennepin Parks were unwilling or unable to achieve a park on the lake. That issue is under separate discussion and is clearly not decided at this time. Council policy makes it clear that a proliferation of regional implementing agencies is not desirable. A "preferred alternative" is that Metropolitan Council not endorse LMCD's legislative initiative, pending completion of the management plan. TODic 3: Constitution of LMCD Is the LMCD appropriately constituted to manage and protect a regional resource with a wide constituency? Currently, each LMCD board member is appointed by the city council of one of the 14 lakeshore communities. The Council's 1985 Task Force first raised the possibility of reconstituting LMCD as one of the "increasingly directive procedures" which might be followed if the LMCD did not move to become a more proactive managing agency on the lake. The subject has been raised in several quarters since. The Council's conclusion, in January 1987, was that no "increased directive" was necessary. The conclusions in this report do not support immediate change. However, the issue continues to be raised, both within and without the lake community. The resolution for this issue, with so many others, lies in the study and planning process which LMCD is beginning. One of the 10 issues to be addressed in LMCD's plan is governmental structure. Whether the LMCD planning process will adequately address the issue and, especially, provide an appropriate forum for the proponents of change, is open to question. Asking a governmental body to rate itself is unusual. In this instance, however, "LMCD watchers" con- cerned with this issue will assuredly make a best effort to be involved in the planning process. The Council's interest, e.g., in maintaining a regional perspective, will be pertinent in this question.