DEEPHAVEN BOAT COMMITTEE
Wednesday,
April 12, 2006
Minutes
Chairman
David Paulson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
David Paulson, Pete Onstad, Darel Gustafson, Ed Towey, Marc Anderson, Larry Parkhurst, Steve Pavek, Council Liaison Keith Kask, Administrator Dana Young
Oliver
Arrett
The Committee approved the March 8, 2006 minutes on a motion by Ed Towey, seconded by Pete Onstad. Motion carried 6-0.
Pat Florance, 3920 Walden Shores, stated that she would like to request an additional no wake buoy in St. Louis Bay to slow the speed of boaters entering and exiting St. Louis Bay. Dana Young stated that he would check with the LMCD and the Sheriff’s Department to see which organization the City should contact to authorize the installation of an additional buoy. Darel Gustafson stated that he felt that stronger enforcement from the Water Patrol would be more helpful than an additional no wake buoy. Dana Young stated that he would report back to the Committee on this matter next month.
Pat Florance also stated her concern regarding the parking of boats on the beach next to the slides. She stated that she has noticed that a number of boats park on the sand next to the beach and felt that this presented a real safety concern. Dana Young stated that he would bring this to the attention of the Park Committee and the Police Department.
David
Paulson stated that he has contacted a couple of individuals who had expressed
a strong interest in serving on the Boat Committee but apparently neither
individual showed up to be interviewed at last month’s meeting. He stated that he would contact both
individuals about appearing at the next Boat Committee meeting in May.
Steve Pavek stated that he really liked the plan that Marc Anderson had come up with on St. Louis Bay. He stated that the new dock retained the same footprint as the old dock only with an extension to the end of the dock.
Ed
Towey briefly outlined the process for the construction of the new docks. He stated that the final dock plans would be
to presented to the Council, a public meeting would be held to present the
plans, some plan adjustments would be made following the public meeting, the
plans would then be presented to the LMCD and construction would begin for the
2007 season.
Larry
Parkhurst enters at 7:25 p.m.
David
Paulson noted that the Carson’s Bay plan eliminates all the slide spaces. Ed Towey stated that we could keep
approximately 18 slide spaces within the setback area but 21 spaces would be
eliminated. He stated that Larry
Parkhurst had presented a plan at the last meeting that proposed spaces along the
shore that was never fully discussed last month.
David
Paulson asked the members to bring him up to speed on the discussion that was
held on the revised dock plans at the last meeting when he was out of town for
the meeting.
Ed
Towey stated that the Committee should first concentrate the discussion on the
St. Louis Bay dock plan.
Larry
Parkhurst stated that the revised plans are an attempt to respond to the City
Council.
Marc
Anderson stated that his proposed plan attempts to maximize the number of dock
slips in Carson’s Bay and the plan for St. Louis Bay simply proposes to expand
the existing dock, which could be taken out each year to accommodate the boat
launch.
David
Paulson suggested that the Committee could develop a variety of alternatives
and let the Council decide which alternative to pursue.
Darel
Gustafson stated that the revised plan was developed based on the Council’s
reaction to maximize dock slips.
Steve
Pavek stated that he was surprised by the Committee’s decision last month to
strongly enforce the 5’4” slide width requirement and recommended using the 6
available slide spaces in St. Louis Bay for larger boats.
Larry
Parkhurst stated that his plan does not add additional BSU’s but does include a
preference for placing boats on the water, as with Wayzata’s dock system, instead
of slides.
Brief
discussion was held on the possibility of eliminating slide spaces for those
permit holders with a sailboat in exchange for city-owned rowing dories.
Ed
Towey stated that there was some real merit to Larry’s proposal to develop dock
spaces along the shore that would be parallel to the shoreline.
Pete
Onstad stated that Larry’s plan would eliminate all slide spaces and expressed
concern about those residents who wanted smaller boats.
David
Paulson expressed concern over the continual revision of plans and recommended
that Phase I of the overall plan should be the introduction of the roll-n-go
slides. He stated that there is a real
possibility of paralysis by analysis if definite action is not taken.
Marc
Anderson commented that although David did an excellent job with the
presentation of the original dock plans to the City Council, he noted that the
wind went right out the sail during the presentation when the Committee could
not verify the number of BSU’s proposed in the plan.
David
Paulson stated that there appears to be disagreement among the Council members
themselves on the appropriate number of proposed BSU’s and the plan the
Committee has developed is as close to a Comprehensive Plan as it can be. He stated that he could live with either
design as long as it incorporates the general concept of replacing the docks,
reducing the number of slides and incorporates roll-n-go slides.
Darel
Gustafson stated that he had made the comment at the last meeting that the
Committee’s proposed plans failed as a Comprehensive Plan because of two
reasons. First, the plan doesn’t address
the issue of demand because there is such little demand for slides in
comparison with slips. And second, the
plan doesn’t address the waiting list issue.
Keith
Kask commented that the Council seems to favor Marc Anderson’s plan when it was
reviewed at the last Council meeting.
Ed
Towey moved to approve Marc Anderson’s plan for St. Louis Bay for presentation
to the City Council, which would include a 3 foot walkway with an 18’ long dock
along the shoreline with slides on the north and south slide of the shoreline
docks. Seconded by Marc Anderson. Discussion was held on the motion.
Pete
Onstad stated that he doesn’t agree with the motion and that he would prefer to
retain the roll-n-go slides instead of the shoreline dock.
Steve
Pavek agreed and stated that the roll-n-go slides would be less costly than the
shoreline dock, still keep boats out of the water and provide a nice clean
look. He stated that the shoreline dock
concept would be more suitable in Carson’s Bay.
Ed
Towey stated that his motion would allow the Council to eliminate the slides if
that would be the direction they wanted to pursue by simply adjusting the
length of the shoreline dock. He added
that the shoreline dock would be something that would be in place for a long
time and that roll-n-go slides are really only a temporary solution that
doesn’t address the need for slips.
Further
discussion was held on how many slides would be left if the shoreline dock were
built in St. Louis Bay and the advantages of letting the Council decide how
many slides should be kept by adjusting the length of the dock along the
shoreline.
David
Paulson called for a vote on the motion.
Marc Anderson, Darel Gustafson, Larry Parkhurst and Ed Towey voted to
support the motion. Steve Pavek, David
Paulson and Pete Onstad voted in opposition to the motion. Motion carried 4-3.
Larry
Parkhurst suggested that the Committee shouldn’t focus on one design. He stated that the final decision is whether
the citizens want access to docks or do they want boats on slides.
Steve
Pavek stated that the shoreline dock would likely require a breakwater
structure to be constructed along the shoreline because of the shallow depth in
St. Louis Bay and this would increase the overall cost of the project
considerably.
Dana
Young suggested that three plans could be presented to the Council with one
plan being the original plan, the second plan showing the shoreline dock and
the third showing roll-n-go slides as a replacement for the existing slides.
Pete
Onstad moved to recommend the submittal of three design alternatives to the
City Council. Seconded by Darel
Gustafson. Motion carried 7-0.
Steve
Pavek stated that he would also like to get some action regarding accommodating
some of the larger boats on slides by using the 6 open slides at St. Louis Bay.
Steve
Pavek moved to use four of the available slide spaces for roll-n-go slides to
accommodate larger boats at St. Louis Bay.
Seconded by Ed Towey. Motion
carried 7-0.
Pat
Florance stated the number of proposed BSU’s in any new dock plan is critical
information because of the limited parking at the Main Beach. Pete Onstad stated that the proposed plan
actually reduces the overall number of BSU’s at St. Louis Bay. Ed Towey added that shore space by Park
Avenue would be eliminated as well.
Discussion
turned to the revised Carson’s Bay plan offered by Marc Anderson.
Steve
Pavek stated that he felt that the depth and angle of the slides at Carson’s
Bay would be much more conducive to slide removal.
David
Paulson stated that he was surprised with the Committee’s decision to consider
a revised plan due to the number of months that the Committee designing the
dock, angling the slips, the handicapped dock and designing the other dock
features.
Ed
Towey stated that one benefit of the revised plan is that more slips could be
provided with dock slips that angle 90 degrees instead of angled slips.
Marc
Anderson stated that another benefit is that the City would get a much bigger
bang for the buck by installing a dock that provided more slips.
Pete
Onstad added that he liked the revised plan better than the original plan.
Discussion
was held concerning the accuracy of the lot lines and setback line in Carson’s
Bay and on Ed Towey’s assertion that the Yacht Club could potentially be
encroaching within the City’s property line on Carson’s Bay. It was the consensus of the Committee that a
final dock plan could not be fully developed or ultimately presented to the
LMCD without knowing exactly where lot lines and setback lines are located.
Ed
Towey moved to recommend that a survey be conducted to determine the property
lines and lot line extensions at the Carson’s Bay and St. Louis Bay facilities. Seconded by Marc Anderson. Motion carried 7-0.
Dana Young stated that staff member Deborah Hicks recommended eliminating the second opportunity that residents have to accept a Class B permit. He stated that in Deborah’s opinion, the vast majority of these residents aren’t very serious about being on these waiting lists after they are offered a Class B Permit. He stated that last year she went through the entire list for canoe racks and slides and everyone declined a permit with the exception of four individuals.
He
stated that Deborah Hicks suggested two options:
1.
After a resident on the waiting list has been asked two times if they
would like a Class B permit, they should be removed from the waiting lists and
have to pay $5.00 to return to the list.
2.
If a resident on the waiting list does not accepted a Class B permit
the first time, remove their name from the waiting list and require them to pay
$5.00 to return to the list.
The
Committee deferred a decision on this issue until a later date.
Dana
Young stated that members of the City Council suggested that Section 900.07,
Subd. 2 of the Watercraft Ordinance was not particularly well written or
clearly specified the appeals process for permit holders in violation of the 90
day usage requirement and the June 15th deadline requirement. He stated that proposed Ordinance No. 09-14
is an attempt to clarify this section of the City Code.
The
Committee will review Ordinance No. 09-14 for adoption next month.
The
Committee suggested holding a special meeting if the results of the survey are
available prior to their next regularly scheduled meeting.
Motion to adjourn by David Paulson, seconded by Pete Onstad. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Boat Committee will be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2006.