2002-03-12 P& Z Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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,---- - THE PROBLEM Irreversible damage to a pristine area was forseen in early 1999 when it was discovered that a party had been issued a pennit to establish a slalom water ski course on the north arm of Peltier Lake,close to the nesting island. Anoka County Park officials, in conjunction with the Peltier Lake Association called a meeting held at Centerville City Hall on April 27, 1999 which was widely advertised and attended by 28 people concerned about the welfare of the lake. After the meeting, Parks circulated a letter summarizing decisions made at the meeting. These included: "avoid skiing in the area north of the island" and "keep fast-moving boats at least 500 feet from the island". It was also agreed that an effort would be made "to educate the general public in regard to the valuable natural resource the northern third of the lake provides and the importance oflimiting any fast-moving water activity in that area". The DNR agreed at the meeting to conduct a study to detennine the behavior and variety of the nesting birds. So far as we know, everyone followed through with this agreement in 1999 but in 2000 and 2001 the pennit holders defied the agreement and established a permanent submersible slalom course, north of the island. The colony in turn abandoned hundreds if not thousands of eggs and young both years. It became evident that a "gentlemen's agreement" is not enough in cases like this, hence the need for an ordinance. 1HE SOLUTION Because of the urgency of this problem, a meeting was held at Wargo Nature Center on January 23, 2002 to discuss what action is needed to prevent another crop failure at the nesting colony. This task force included delegates from Lino Lakes and Centerville, County Parks, the sheriff's Dept, the DNR, the Rice Creek Watershed District, the Peltier Lake Association and the Bell Museum of Natural History. After the meeting, on the basis of his broad experience with various bird issues, Dr. Scott Lanyon, Director of the Bell Museum and former Chair of the Lino Lakes Environmental Board, made an analysis of "possible explanation of colony abandonment" and most likely cause. He assessed 9 hypotheses of what has (in other areas) or could cause abandonment. Under the category NOISE DISTURBANCE- motor boats close to the island, he wrote: "It appears likely that this could result in sufficient disturbance to cause a mass abandonment of this colony..." His conclusion: "In my opinion, the most likely explanation is that the colony (was) abandoned due to direct human influence in the form of human disturbance (noise and physical presence) in close proximity to the colony." The solution is to make such human intrusion and disturbance impossible in the future through an ordinance and Joint-Powers agreement between Centerville and Lino Lakes. Whether the birds return to the heronry this spring is immaterial. Other wildlife and plants (including some rare ones) also require protection from . possible damaging activities. It is the whole unique ecosystem that needs