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<br />LAURENCE M N'ELSON <br />1909 ~ 2000 <br /> <br />STEPHEN L. NELSON & ASSOCIATES <br />AITORNEYSATlAW <br />665 NOIUH SNELLING AVENUE <br />SAlNTPAUL, MINNESOTA 55104-1$93 <br />(65 l) 646-5000 <br />Fax (651) 642.2619 <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />STEPHEN L. NELSON <br /> <br />LSG.A1- .ASSISTANT <br />SJiA'RON E. LYNCH <br /> <br />June 18, 2001 <br /> <br />Mayor Dennis Probst, City Council Members <br />And City Administrator <br />City of Arden Hills <br />4364 West Round Lake Road <br />Arden Hills, MN 55112-5794 <br /> <br />RE: City Ordinance Requiring Placement of Buoys on Lake Johanna <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Probst, Council Members and City Administrator: <br /> <br />I know that all of those present appreciated the opportunity to express their opinions about the City's e <br />placement of buoys on Lake Johanna at the June 11"' meeting. I think the unanimous consensus of <br />those present was that buoys should not be installed because they would be a safety issue and <br />unsightly. <br /> <br />There are several points I would like to reaffirm. First, I think one very important point brought up <br />by one of the city council members was glossed over very quickly. I believe she pointed out that <br />Lake Johanna has approximately 211 surface acres. According to your own engineer's (BWR?) <br />calculations, the removal of250 feet around the shore of Lake Johanna and the elimination of the <br />shallower center area would decrease the surface of the lake usable for boating activities down to only <br />120 acres. This obviously does not ,include the narrow areas that might extend into several of the <br />bays which would thus eliminate even more surface area since there would be insufficient room to <br />navigate. Thus over 43% of the surface area of Lake Johanna would be lost. This would essentially <br />condense the useable surface area to several very limited areas, and in fact I believe would increase <br />the safety concerns which the original ordinances were intended to eliminate. The limited speed zones <br />within 250 feet of shore have typically been found only on the larger lakes in the state which are many <br />times the size of Lake Johanna. <br /> <br />Another point to keep in mind is that ifbuoys are installed, a boat driver would not drive close to the <br />buoys because of the danger to any skier or tuber that he or she might be pulling. This too would <br />decrease the useable arell.. I was just notified by a client that her daughter was injured last Monday <br />up in the Brainerd area when her daughter struck a buoy while being towed by a boat. The buoy was <br />of a type similar to the type of buoy that would have to be installed on Lake Johanna. The buoy .. <br />caused a severe injury to her shoulder that resulted in many stitches and reconstruction of the girl's ,., <br />shoulder. <br /> <br />\,c;"~' <br />i~~ <br />