05-28-1997 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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A LILLIE SUBURBAN NEWSPAPER Volume 23, No. 35 IEW Tuesday, May 20, 1997 ROS jta,. Lake Gervais boating ordinance floats past the approval stage by Jennifer Gansen Trying to launch any type of watercraft on Lake Gervais this summer won't be as easy as in the past thanks to the joint powers agreement approved recently by the Little Canada. and Maplewood city councils. .T:The agreement combines both city's ordinances and allows joint enforcement of the new restrictions • H• y the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. However, the measure did not pass without ?protest. Dennis Carson, a Little Canada resident, ,:,.voiced his concerns at the Little Canada City Council .'meeting May 14. According to Carson, the concept of the agreement is good but the wording of the original ordinance is too vague. He believes this will eventually cause ;• _problems for area residents using the lake. • "1 think the original purpose of the ordinance was to regulate where people were entering motorized watercraft on the lake," Carson said. "Now, because Gervais .. . of the wording, all watercraft including canoes and inflatables are subject to fines if not launched from the proper place." Carson, who lives near Lake Gervais Park, says it is very common to see people use the park access in Little Canada to enter their canoes and inflatables. With the new ordinances in place, they will be "forced to drive to Spoon (Lake) to launch their boats or end up with a $750 fine." . Since there is no approved public access point on Gervais, boat owners will have to use the boat launch on Spoon Lake, which is the causeway that joins Gervais and Keller lakes. Carson pointed out that the public access point on Spoon is too small for the anticipated heavy use. "Spoon has only about 25 parking spots in its launch area," Carson said. "If everyone who wants to Gervais... Continued from Front Page Continued on Page 3 use a canoe on the lake is forced to park a vehicle there too, the lot will fill up in no time." I. Upon hearing Carson's concerns, the Little Canada City Council' agreed to took into the matter and contact Maplewood officials Concerning the wording of the ordinances. Despite these concerns, Little Canada Mayor Michael Fahey still asked the council to approve the Joint Powers Agreement. "The primary thrust of the agreement is still the same," said Fahey. "I say we shoot the rifle, then make the exceptions. 1 don't want to lose a whole summer of enforcement because of a wording issue." In the end, the council passed the agreement with the original wording. Page 158