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

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Dennis Brodin, 14759 Waco Street, Anoka, stated he has been putting up with high speed boat traffic on a regular basis, including jet skis and boats of 120 horsepower running up and down the Rum River un-enforced. He stated that he has lived there five years and the Sheriff's Department said the entire Rum River is a no wake fiver but there has been no enforcement. Mr. Brodin stated there has also not been enforcement regarding the size of the motor. He stated it is unfortunate that boaters have not identified the difference between high water and low water conditions. He stated his property has experienced erosion from the flooding but also from speeding boat traffic. He explained his River bank has eroded because the waves pound the shoreline when boats travel the River at a high speed, and sometimes a lower speed depending on the size of the motor. Mr. Brodin stated they have had jet skis on the River which travel at a high speed and have a high level of noise as well. He stated that he heard a proposal for a mile or mile and one-half no wake zone which would help his property. Mr. Brodin stated this is an area of high River banks which have been eroding, some naturally, but it is compounded by the high speed traffic of boats and waves crashing into the sides. Mary Lundeen, 14393 Waco Street, stated she supports the no wake zone. She stated she is a homemaker and avid canoer. She spends a lot of time on the River and watches the current and wave action. She stated there is definitely a difference in water action and current with high speed boat wave action. It slaps the current at a fight degree and the sucking action sucks away the soil at a very, very high rate. Ms. Lundeen stated she has seen high water in the Spring and agreed that nature has a way of eroding but it is much less than high speed boats in high water conditions. She stated these boaters must not be from this area because they have no respect for the River or property. Ms. Lundeen stated if this activity is not slowed, there will be drastic impacts to the River's edge in future years. She stated that in the last three years she has seen more trees fall into the River due to the River's edge erosion problem and if something is not done soon, the speed boats will not be able to speed anymore due to the number of fallen trees in the River. Ms. Lundeen stated that she has seen high speed boats pull water skiers but there are better locations for this activity than the narrow Rum River. She stated she has concern for the safety of her young grandchildren if they use the River due to the danger of high speed boaters who may surprise them and result in an accident. Ms. Lundeen reviewed the comment about the fisherman needing to take three and one-half to four hours to get to the fishing spot and noted that even a canoe can cover a lot of area in four hours. She stated it will not slow down fishing boats too much if there is a no wake ordinance. Ms. Lundeen stated that most of the high speed boats do it for pleasure with wide sweeping angle turns to repeat the back and forth route which results in constant waves against the River bank. She stated that to control boat speed in any way will result in a natural fiver that looks natural and remains so for many years to come. Frank O'Brien, 15111 Juniper Ridge Drive, stated he lives about one block south of 153rd Avenue and is off the main River channel where a channel makes an island. Mr. O'Brien stated that he does not profess to be an engineer as such but he suffers a lot of tree loss due to erosion from the current. He explained the stream is very small between his property and the island and yet in five years he has lost five trees on his property and another four from the island. Mr. O'Brien stated there is no doubt a problem with excess wake activity against the River bank but he does not believe all tree loss is from the erosion caused by boat activity. He stated that he would be inclined to agree that there seems to be heavier speed boat activity in the Waco Street City Council Public Hearing/June 9, 1998 Page 5 of 6