Boating Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee — Minutes

Town of Spider Lake Boating Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee (BOAHC) Minutes Town Hall, 10896W Town Hall Road & via ZOOM January 21, 2025 20250121-BOAHC_Minutes 7-Feb-25 Page 1 of 2 MINUTES 1. Chair Berkopec called the meeting to order at 5:02 pm (Meeting was held via Zoom only due to a variety of factors, weather being one.) PRESENT: Bob Berkopec (Chair), Michelle Keil (Clerk) Members: Ray Langer, Dave Mickelson, Tony Mornar, Tom Oatman, Craig Pagenkopf, Dave Thearin and John Trombello • Chair Berkopec opened the meeting with a few committee process reminders about the work remaining. 2. Clerk Keil covered committee “housekeeping” details, including: • Review of Minutes from the January 14, 2025, meeting. The minutes were unanimously approved as written. • The committee agreed to the scheduling of three additional meetings (listed below). Each will begin at 5:00PM CST. Tony Mornar stated he will be unavailable for the Feb. 20 meeting due to being out of the country from February 17-27, 2025. ­ February 6, 2025 ­ February 11, 2025 ­ February 20, 2025 3. Tom Oatman and John Trombello shared their high-level summary observations from scribing the comments made during the January 14, 2025, Listening Session. Clerk Keil shared that a total of 10 people spoke; 6 who preregistered and 4 who signed up at the Hall. The committee counted 14 people attending in person and roughly 23 attending via Zoom. General consensus was that the comments and input tracked fairly closely – both in percentages and content - to the results of the townwide survey and prior public hearings and listening sessions. Chair Berkopec noted that the WDNR letter responding to the current ordinance was mentioned a couple of times and offered that the Town may wish to consider a better education/communication effort around the Town’s “Conditions Report” in response to the letter. Clerk Keil said she plans to have a summary and analysis of the input received (to date) to the BOAHC dedicated email address by the committee’s next meeting. Tony Mornar advocated for a more nuanced analysis than a simple “For” or “Against” the ordinance approach. Clerk Keil agreed. There was brief discussion about the recent history and litigation relative to the current ordinance. John Trombello agreed to touch base with Town Chair Sheldon to learn about the Town’s response to the 2nd WDNR letter responding to the proposed ordinance. Town of Spider Lake Boating Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee (BOAHC) Minutes Town Hall, 10896W Town Hall Road & via ZOOM January 21, 2025 20250121-BOAHC_Minutes 7-Feb-25 Page 2 of 2 4. Committee sub-team reports: • Water Sports Hours – Tony Mornar presented his research and preliminary recommendations regarding water sports hours. Significant discussion ensued around aspects related to hours such as town history, survey responses, safety, property owner expectations, potential compromise alternatives, impacts on boat/PWC traffic, rental boats/PWCs coming onto the Spider Chain, etc. • Wake Boat Activity – Ray Langer quickly went through the sub-team’s current material and preliminary recommendations regarding wake boating activity. • Environmental Impacts – Clerk Keil provided additional information answering questions that were raised during the January 14th meeting, specifically: o Bathymetric (contour) maps of Ghost and Lower Clam Lakes. o Research results looking at boat wake/wave energies and sediment disturbance for boats traveling at “planing” vs. “plowing” speeds. 5. Chair Berkopec spoke about the process the committee will use going forward to arrive at consensus for recommendations to the Town board. He asked the committee to do the following: • Each member send any outstanding questions they have on any topic to Clerk Keil by January 28. She will then compile them and distribute to the committee in advance of the next meeting. • Each sub-team generate a one-slide version of their recommendations. (Recommendations only; no rationale.) This will be used to pace discussion and deliberation for the committee beginning at the next meeting. 6. Chair Berkopec adjourned the meeting at approximately 7:10 PM. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Keil, Clerk, BOAHC