7/13/11
During the 6/25 Council Meeting, Shorewood's Council voted 5 to 0 to authorize spending $1000 for signs, some road striping and electrical connection so a gate restricting access at the Christmas Lake boat landing could be installed.
The gate is supposed to keep boaters from launching any boat until it's inspected for aquatic invasive species. Funding for the gate is to come from the Christmas Lake homeowners association while inspection funding is to come from DNR and Minnehaha Creek Watershed Grants to the association.
Basically, one would need to take one's boat to Lake Minnewashta and have it inspected, obtaining a code to open the gate at Christmas Lake. Inspection hours seem fuzzy and most details of how the whole operation would be conducted are to-be-determined.
The DNR has long opposed restricting public launch site access and has not approved this new plan. In fact, an email was presented in which a DNR rep indicated the agency's opposition.
The City's Attorney stated that the agreement between the DNR and Shorewood under which Shorewood operates the boat launch does not allow for restricting access. This was re-iterated by the Attorney at the 7/11 Council Meeting.
Keep and eye on this pending fiasco. The Insider opines that the DNR (when they get back to work) will not approve (an approval would open the flood gates for state-wide requests to do the same). Meanwile, Shorewood's taxpayers will have spent money (the 7/11 Council meeting approved another $2000).
Mayor Lizee indicated that it's time the City forged ahead, regardless of the DNR's approval being absent. Gee, is this how government acts in a transparent, civil manner? The Insider sees this as placing the City squarely in line of a DNR lawsuit.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
The vote was just another cynical maneuver to curry favor with the voters on Christmas Lake. The money will never be spent. While the city can, and should, provide an opinion on the matter, it has no jurisdiction over public boat landings. Period.
ReplyDeleteThis follows the pattern we have seen all year with the Lizee group. They pander to small special interest groups and ignore the impact on the whole city. They’ve brought Chicago style patronage politics to Shorewood.
When the city attorney wakes up long enough to render such a "pointed" opinion and the council votes against him, something is wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's Zerby, who is quoted in the newspaper as wanting to protect Christmas Lake as a "community resource," (http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/07/26/news/a1/a121pilotupdate.txt) while basically voting to deny community acces to this asset. Does he think before he talks?