Call Meeting to Order

Vice-Chairman Pete Onstad called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

Members Present

Pete Onstad, Sue Jerutis, Larry Parkhurst, Oliver Arrett, Darel Gustafson, Ed Towey, Steve Pavek, Council Liaison Keith Kask, Administrator Dana Young

Members Absent

David Paulson, Marc Anderson

October 11, 2006 Minutes

The Committee approved the October 11, 2006 minutes on a motion by Oliver Arrett, seconded by Sue Jerutis. Motion carried 7-0.

Matters from the Floor

There were no matters from the floor.

October 16^th Presentation of St. Louis Bay Dock Plan

Pete Onstad asked Keith Kask what the next step is for the St. Louis Bay Dock plan? Keith Kask stated that it is hard to know the leanings of the new Council when they take office in January and added that there didn’t seem to be strong community support of the reconfiguration plan. He recommended that the Committee identify what options would be available for slides then tackle the reconfiguration of slips at a later date.

Pete Onstad stated that it was clear from comments at the October 16^th presentation that the navigation lane needed to be relocated in front of the boat launch.

Keith Kask stated that one of the Council members was extremely frustrated during the presentation at the comments from those who opposed the shore space and new dock configuration several years ago who now support leaving the shore spaces alone. Steve Pavek stated that he was speechless when he heard this same comment from a resident at a recent Boat Committee meeting.

Darel Gustafson suggested that the Committee should simply present the current plan to the City Council for action.

Keith Kask stated his concern with the five-year inactive list and the policy that drops residents to the bottom of the waiting list after turning down a boat space for a second time. He stated that when staff is attempting to fill slide spaces, it is not uncommon to go to the bottom of the waiting list to have to ask these residents if they wanted a slide. He stated that he felt these individuals should have to go off the waiting list for a year if they decline a boat space a second time. He also stated that he also heard many comments that boats need to be checked for their usage and seaworthiness.

Ed Towey commented that he thought that we should head towards implementing slides in 2007 and docks in 2008. He added that we also need to widen slides at Carson’s Bay as well as St. Louis Bay.

Keith Kask agreed that it was imperative that we get those people with wider boats on slides.

Further discussion was held on the slide rollers. It was the consensus of the Committee that slide rollers should be purchased, installed and maintained by the lease holders from the list of approved rollers rather than the City.

Pete Onstad stated that it appears to be the consensus of the Committee to move forward with the plan that has been presented. He suggested keeping a close eye on how well the policy of giving residents an opportunity to decline a boat space is working administratively.

Further discussion was held on the waiting list. Sue Jerutis stated that she felt that boat cards should be sent out each year like they use to and require people to return the card in order for them to stay on the list. Dana Young stated that the policy of sending out boat cards was discontinued because the policy didn’t work as intended. Pete Onstad suggested that another option would be to charge residents $20 per year to stay on the waiting list, which would be refunded after they obtain a boat space.

Pete Onstad stated that the Committee should table further discussion on the inactive list, the one-time rejection policy, and other boat policies until December. He added that the Committee would also be able to see how many spaces are available when the boat fees are returned by November 15^th.

November 6^th Discussion on Term Limits

Pete Onstad briefly summarized the two proposals from Councilmember Crockett and Wheaton that were presented on November 6th.

Ed Towey stated that a majority of those in attendance at the November 6^th meeting were not in favor of term limits. He stated that there appeared to be a split in opinion on the proposal for escalating boat fees. He added that the term limit issue is contentious and the City should consider spending money on a decent poll of the entire community.

Larry Parkhurst stated that the demand for the lake has changed and people want larger boats instead of the small fishing boats with 10 hp motors that were so common many years ago. He stated that we have failed to put the kind of boats on the water that meet would meet the demand of the residents.

Pete Onstad noted that another familiar comment at the meeting was to give people credit for the length of time that they lived in Deephaven.

Larry Parkhurst stated that he felt it was important that we focus on getting more boats on the water.

Keith Kask stated that it also seemed that people at the meeting also wanted us to leave the shore space alone.

The Committee discussed whether their proposal to the Council should focus on the objective to placing more boats on the water and respond to the public’s request to leave the shore space alone.

Motion by Larry Parkhurst to recommend that the City Council consider a St. Louis Bay Dock plan that widens existing slides, expands the dock area as proposed in Option No. 2, leaves the shore space in their current location, and keeps the number of Boat Storage Units at the currently licensed number of 165. Seconded by Oliver Arrett. Motion carried 7-0.

Keith Kask stated that the future goal of the Committee should be to develop creative ways to manage the waiting list and to address the issue of usage.

Mitch Landis, 18985 Lake Avenue, stated that he liked how the discussion was going this evening, liked the idea about slide rollers and the ability to put a wider boat on a slide. He stated that wider slides might enable him to consider dropping his name from the dock list. He added that he liked the idea of creating more resources towards what people wanted.

Keith Kask stated that a blogsite has been set up to discuss the term limit issue and did not want the blogsite to be associated with the City and questioned the accuracy of the some of the data presented on the site.

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn by Larry Parkhurst, seconded by Steve Pavek. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adorned at 8:47 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Boat Committee will be held on Wednesday, December 13, 2006.