CCP 07-27-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. Mayor Robert Woodburn City Council Members Public Safety Committee June 29, 1987 Page two Rp~ources Lake Administrative Board. Also, once you exceed 40 m.p.h., the use is not for recreational purposes but for thrills and excitement ~hich endanger other lives. Lake Johanna is a small lake that can be safely used by a sizeable number of boats provided speed is controlled and direction is controlled. There are certain individuals who use the lake with high powered speed boats. These boats approach speeds from 60 to 100 m.p.h. and often times do not follow the required counter-clockwise direction. At 60 m.p.h. a boat travels 88 feet per second and at 90 m.p.h. a boat travels 132 feet per second. At these speeds, an error by a driver or a mechanical failure would endanger other users of the lake who are in the vicinity. Likewise! room for human error is also very small if you fail to spot an object or someone in the water. An action to limit the speed would be in accord with other municipalities. The Whi te Bear Area Conservation District that controls White Bear Lake and Bald Eagle Lake has adopted ordinances . that limi t the speed on White Bear Lake to 35 m.p.h. The Ci ty of Shoreview and the City of Roseville have adopted a speed limit of 40 m.p.h. on Lake Owasso. Lake Minnetonka also has a 40 m.p.h. speed limi t, These ordinances were adopted in response to problems caused by excessive speed of boaters who endangered the lives of others. In comparison, Lake Johanna is 21l acres, Lake Owasso is 383 acres (or about two times larger) and White Bear Lake is 2410 acres or (or approximately 12 times larger). The speed restrictions being placed on the above lakes are putting more pressure on all lakes without speed control, including Lake Johanna. I have checked with the Ramsey County Sheriff's office and have been advised that they are enforcing the speed limit on White Bear and Owasso. I have also been advised that they would be willing to enforce 40 m.p.h. speed limit on Johanna and that they now have radar equipment available for enforcing speed limits. They also indicated that 40 m.p.h. was a reasonable speed limit for a lake the size of Johanna. I would be more than happy to appear and provide you with information and facts regarding the use of the lake and the dangers caused by the high speed boat driver~, I feel the time to address the problem is before someone is killed or maimed for life. Accordingly, I would request that the City Ordinance ( Chapter 12) be amended to place an overall speed limit of 40 m.p.h. on those areas . not covered by the 5 m.p.h. restriction during the hours of 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.