Tainter Lake Rehabilitation District considering fees for launching boats
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Tainter Lake Rehabilitation District Board of Commissioners is considering whether to charge fees for launching boats from county parks on Tainter Lake.
The boat landings are county property, and to charge boat launch fees, the lake district would have to work it out with Dunn County, said Jim Zons, county board supervisor from Colfax and the county board’s representative on the Tainter Lake Rehabilitation District Board of Commissioners at the December 21 meeting.
Zons said he had talked with Scott Nabbefeld, Dunn County director of facilities, and Ann Vogl, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the facilities committee.
It had not crossed their minds to charge fees, he said.
The Board of Commissioners could go to the facilities committee with a proposal for a boat launch fee that would be split between the lake district and the county, Zons said, noting that county officials are open to suggestions.
When petitions for forming the lake district were being circulated, two topics came up consistently, said Tom Bilse, representative for the Town of Tainter on the Board of Commissioners.
People talked about no-wake zones, and they said the cost for improvements to the lake should not just come from residents who live on the lake, he said.
Many people who use the lake on weekends and holidays do not live on the lake, Bilse said.
The proceeds from boat launch fees, by state law, would have to toward improvements for the boat landings, he said.
The biggest project would be to make Champney Park usable again with access to the lake, Bilse said.
Electronic meters could be set up, and people could have an account or use their credit cards, and people living around the lake could get free passes for launching boats. The idea would be for everyone else who does not live on the lake to pay boat launching fees, he said.
“I think the idea has merit,” Bilse said.
Fees
One of the commission members suggested $3 for a boat launching fee.
Grant Peissig, Board of Commissioners member, said he thought he had heard that $8 would be the maximum that could be charged..
People have to pay at every boat landing in the Twin Cities, Zons said.
The lake district could charge for parking, too, with a parking app [that people could have on their phones], so that it would be $10 to $20 to launch a boat, said Jerry Porter, Board of Commissioners member.
The fee is $10 to $15 to launch a boat in the Twin Cities, but maybe that is too expensive for this area, he said.
People could buy a season pass for launching boats or pay by the day, Bilse said.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, “Municipalities, lake management districts, and other access providers (entities that have signed a private provider agreement with the DNR) are allowed to charge reasonable launch fees under NR1.91, Wisconsin Administrative Code. Entities operating public boat launch facilities that charge launch fees in excess of $8 per day must have DNR approval prior to implementing the fee structure … Any launch fees collected shall be used only for the operation and maintenance of boat launching facilities. Parking is included with launch fees. Segregated fees for parking are not allowed.”
Fees charged in conjunction with the Tainter Lake Rehabilitation District would apply to boat landings on the lake: Champney Park, Kleist Landing, Lamb’s Creek, Northwest Landing and Peninsula Park.
Dunn County also has boat landings at 22 Mile Ford Park north of Colfax on the Red Cedar River and at Pineview Park on Lake Eau Galle.
The larger boat landing sites on the lake, such as Lamb’s Creek and Northwest Landing, also have picnic facilities.
The Board of Commissioners did not discuss whether people who are using the parks for a family picnic or a family reunion would be expected to pay a boat launching fee, even if they were not intending to take a boat out on the lake.
Revenue
The intent for charging boat launch fees would be to generate revenue to improve the boat landings, and Dunn County is the property owner, said Al Brown, chair of the Board of Commissioners.
Champney Park could use quite a lot of work, and Northwest Landing could use shoreline work, but the revenue from boat launch fees can only be used to improve boat ramps and piers, he said.
Could the money to used to make Champney Park accessible by boat again? Peissig asked.
Dredging Champney Park would be expensive, but could a pier be built out to the water? Zons asked.
A long pier would not solve the problem for property owners around Champney Park, but it would make the lake accessible again, he said.
That would require “building a road out there,” Peissig said.
A long pier would be cheaper than dredging, Zons said.
“But not as effective,” Peissig said.
Champney Park has been filling in for years and has gotten much worse since the 1980s. There were conversations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about dredging, but then the project “fell apart,” he said.
“We would have to talk to the powers that be about why can’t we use boat launch fees to open a boat launch,” Peissig said.
Would the county get all of the money? he asked.
The boat landings are the county’s property, so the county would get a portion of the boat launch fees, Zons said.
Give them away
How much does the county want to own and maintain the boat launches? Peissig asked.
The county could give the boat launches to the lake district and then the parking fees and launch fees would all belong to the lake district, he said.
The Dunn County Board recently approved giving Myron Park back to the Town of Sand Creek, but the park was originally a gift from Sand Creek, Zons said, adding that it might be worth pursuing to find out if the county would want to give the boat landings to the lake district.
Peissig said he would be interested in knowing the county’s perspective.
Are the boat landings and county parks “just an expense?” he asked.
The county parks and boat landings are viewed as a community asset because they draw visitors to the area, and they draw people to want to live in the area, Zons said.
Fees charged at boat landings would improve one of the natural resources available, Peissig said.
Brown noted that Zons had said the county was open to suggestions.
The county gave away the hockey arena [at the Dunn County Rec Park] to the Menomonie Hockey Association, but Dunn County is still responsible for the costs, Zons said.
The Board of Commissioners can say the lake district wants to split the fees. Or the lake district could mow the parks and keep the fees because the lake district is maintaining the parks, he said.
The Board of Commissioners must think carefully about parking, otherwise people are going to park up and down the road on July 4, Bilse said.
The lake district should skip the idea of charging for parking, he said.
There would be ways to get around a parking fee, said Pete Heimdahl, a member of the Board of Commissioners.
Some people will have their wives drop them off, and she will go home, and he will go out on the lake, he said.
The Board of Commissioners must involve Elk Point Resort, Zons said.
If Elk Point does not want to share a boat launch fee, “then everyone is going to go there,” he said.
Enforcement
One person in the audience wanted to know how boat launch fees would be enforced.
If Dunn County gets the fees, then Dunn County would enforce the boat launch fees, Bilse said.
Peissig said he could not recall if it was Lake Mendota or Lake Monona in Madison, but there is a gate that comes down like a parking ramp, and you have to pay to get in.
Automation would require a money investment, he said.
A parking system could be invested in rather than having someone staff the boat launches, Peissig said.
Readers should note that a quick Internet search revealed parking kiosks that take credit cards can cost around $4,000 each. In addition, there would probably have to be some kind of concrete pad with perhaps a curb, and electricity would have to be available to run the kiosk and the gate.
Readers also are reminded that all Dunn County taxpayers pay for the maintenance of the county parks as part of their county property taxes, even if they have never been to a county park or have never launched a boat from a county park.
Committees
The Board of Commissioners will have to investigate further, Brown said.
The lake district already has four committees going with a seven-member board, he said.
The issue of charging boat launch fees could be taken up after the no-wake zone committee has worked through the buoy issue, Brown said.
The signs at the boat landings come up at every committee meeting, Zons noted.
Zons is chair of the no-wake zone committee.
The lake district needs solutions for other issues first, such as the buoys, Brown said.
“I would rather not have two problems and no solutions,” he said.
The boat launch fees “are not critical,” Heimdahl said.
The Board of Commissioners must figure out how much money boat launch fees could bring in, Peissig said.
The no-wake zone committee can work on buoys, and then the committee can segue into the boat launch fees as a future agenda item, Heimdahl said.
Is this the direction the Board of Commissioners wants to go? Brown asked.
It is a direction to explore, Zons said.
It is worth a conversation with the county, Bilse said.
Lake residents have been complaining that only people who live on the lake will pay for the lake improvements, Zons said.
People do haul in boats to use the lake who do not live anywhere near the lake, he said.
They are getting enjoyment and usage of the lake, but they are not paying for it, Zons said.
According to the Wisconsin DNR’s website, “Wisconsin law recognizes than an owner of land that borders lakes and rivers, known as a riparian owner, holds rights to use the water next to their property. Riparian rights include the use of the shoreline, reasonable use of the water, and a right to access the water. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court has ruled that when conflicts occur between the rights of riparian owners and public rights, the public’s rights are primary, and the riparian owner’s are secondary.”
Also according to the DNR’s website, “Navigability determines whether a water body is public or private. Navigable streams are public waters. Because navigable waters are public, they may be used for fishing, provided public access is available, or you have to permission of the landowner to cross their property to reach the water.”
Direction
Is the Board of Commissioners certain this is the direction they want to go? Brown asked.
Are boat launching fees getting away from the primary focus on the lake itself? Heimdahl asked.
The Board of Commissioners has four committees going in different directions, Brown reiterated.
“It is is easier to say ‘no’ and not go down a road than it is to go down the road and then say, ‘we don’t want to be here,’ and then having to go back,” he said.
The lake district’s focus is to protect the lake, to address erosion problems and to try to provide a good experience for all who use the lake, Brown said.
Discussions are good, but the Board of Commissioners must be mindful of “not burning ourselves out,” he said.
The committees can run their course and then come back to issue of boat launch fees, Peissig said.
Boat launch fees will be in the strategic plan, Brown said.
Many people at the annual meeting said they did not want to pay for improving the lake and that the lake district should get grants or “let the government pay for it,” Peissig said.
The committee can investigate boat launch fees, but the Board of Commissioners does not have to take on the issue the year, Bilse said.
Part of the surveys to lake residents will ask what their expectations are for completing projects. Some projects will take years, Brown said, adding that boat launch fees can be put on the list.
The committee can take up boat launch fees after the buoys are solved, Zons said.
Brown concluded that the consensus of the Board of Commissioners is boat launch fees will be taken up by the no-wake zone committee at a later date.
