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MINUTES <br />CITY COUNCIL <br />JUNE 239 2025 <br />Miller asked how much of the lake they are taking up when rowing. Cavanaugh stated that there is a <br />15-meter lane for a regatta, which provides enough room for the oars. He stated that the number of <br />lanes would depend on the number of kids at the practice. <br />Mayor Fischer commented that he would want to limit the club to half of the lake and prevent a <br />situation where they are taking up the whole lake. Cavanaugh commented that the kids have to be with <br />him in order to hear him. He stated that this past week, he operated without a megaphone, which <br />worked okay. He commented that the younger kids are learning to steer the boat, and the older kids <br />can row a straight line. He stated that they take up 40 to 50 feet. <br />Mayor Fischer commented that the lake is a shared resource between residents and other lake users. <br />He wanted to ensure that there was some type of limitation to ensure that others would feel safe to use <br />the lake when the club is on the water. <br />Miller commented that he would want to ensure that other lake users feel safe to use the lake without <br />feeling like they would impede the club activity. <br />Cavanaugh stated that he is on the water six days per week and can tell the Council which boats are on <br />the water, when the water skiing happens, and who is fishing on kayaks. He stated that they stay away <br />from other users to be respectful and communicate with those users to ensure they can all use the <br />water. He asked if everyone who owns a powerboat on the lake has to carry insurance. He <br />commented that all the coaches have taken water safety courses. <br />Dupont stated that when other boats are on the water and there are wakes, they will go to another lake. <br />He stated that they are not trying to mix with the boats because of the wakes. He stated that they try to <br />get away from other users. He stated that during the summer, they use the lake from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. <br />and they rarely encounter boats with wakes during those times, or many other users at all. He stated <br />that during the school year, they row from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and are off the water before most people <br />are home. <br />Malone asked what steps had been taken to work with the City of St. Paul about the issues at Lake <br />Phalen. Dupont commented that the issue was storage because they had to trailer in every day. He <br />commented that these are expensive boats, and they need secure storage. He stated that the lakeside <br />activity center is going to be redone at some point by the City of St. Paul. <br />Malone stated that it would seem that they would not need to be on Gervais six days per week and <br />asked if they would be open to splitting the time between Gervais and Keller. Dupont stated that they <br />do go to Keller quite often because the water is calmer. He stated that when Gervais is calm and there <br />are not many people on the lake, they prefer to stay there. <br />Malone asked if St. Paul knew the club was on the lake. Dupont replied that the lake has public <br />access. He stated that they previously had storage containers, but those are no longer allowed. He <br />stated that they were using electric motors for the coaches, but the weeds were too bad on Phalen. He <br />confirmed that they stored boats on a homeowner's property on Keller. <br />H <br />