Minutes - Council - 06/09/1998 - Public Hearing

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Many of us longtime local residents have some first hand knowledge and experience of the handiwork dished out in past years by the Rum and Mississippi in our own bit of paradise here in Ramsey and vicinity. I have lived on the Rum river the majority of my life. I grew up on the river in Anoka near where it empties into the Mississippi--my father still owns the same river front property there that I grew up on. I currently live on the Rum near the Northern border of Ramsey. I have dealt first hand with the impact of the annual floods in this area through the years including the "big one" in 1965, the current historical high-water mark, when we were piling sand bags around the house in Anoka. I remember that my mother, God rest her soul, whose family was one of the first to build a house on the river near the mouth of the Rum in the early 1940's, commented for years as I was growing up about the darn boats (not exactly her words) that over the years became bigger, louder and more prevalent. Her complaints were more centered on "peace and quiet" than any concern about erosion. My point in mentioning her is to let you know that I have been aware of and living with this "no wake" issue long before even Anoka passed it's "no-wake" ordinance in 1990. One reason I chose to purchase property on what I call the upper Rum, was partly to get away from the noise and commotion that is now so common nearer the mouth of the river. Where I live now the river is more like it was back then in my childhood. My point in mentioning this is to let you know that I too am concerned about boaters who are irresponsible about their use of the river. I saw a lot of reckless and inconsiderate boaters as I grew up. By the way, Anoka's current "no wake" ordinance is a minor inconvenience for most boaters because it covers a relatively short stretch of river and is occupied in the middle by the dam, which most boaters wisely keep their distance from. This newly proposed ordinance, on the other hand, covers a much longer and more navigable stretch of river and would prove to be more than a minor inconvenience for most boaters, especially those attempting to navigate to the upper part of Ramsey and Andover. That is because the average size boat and motor can only safely and easily be put in the water at the Anoka County fairgrounds and then navigated upstream. The next safely available entry point for the average rig is more than 10 river miles upstream at St. Francis. It is fairly common knowledge that rivers behave differently than lakes or other static bodies of water. It is no mystery that with rivers you are always dealing with one thing in particular--relentless CURRENT. Depending on the time of year and the annual snowfall and rainfall, that current runs sometimes slower, sometimes faster and sometimes it roars and churns as, for example, during the annual spring flooding. Unless your river is as straight as an arrow or is lined with concrete, it follows as surely as night follows day, that that current is going to cause erosion, especially at the tighter twists and bends in the river (the Rum has plenty and I live on one) and especially when the water level is high and the current swift--typically in the spring. It is our contention that there have been eroded twists and bends on the Rum river ever since it's creation and long before the first boat and motor ever showed up on it. To illustrate this point I ,:~,~ ....... ...-.~ ~....::~ -..have included as the back page of this statement a page from a beginning level college Geology textbook showing the typical progression of natural erosion on a river system.