The regular meeting of the La Crosse Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners was held Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 400 La Crosse Street. 

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:  President John Fisher

                                      Vice-President Marc Schultz

                                      County Supervisor Don Meyer

                                      Commissioner Jim Bertram

                                      Commissioner Wayne Oliver

                                      Commissioner Dale Wetterling arrived at 4:42 p.m.

                                      Council Member Tom Sweeney

                                      Commissioner Tom Thompson – arrived at 5:41 p.m.

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:    Sheriff’s Representative

 

OTHERS PRESENT:              Larry Kirch, City Planner

                                      Dave Lange, County Corporate Counsel

                                      Karl Green, UW Extension

                                      Kent Pehler, Brennan Marine

                                      Jane Brunner, Recording Secretary

                                      Evan Fisher, BSA Troop 18

 

President John Fisher called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m.                                                   

1)                Approval of the minutes of the December 17, 2007 meeting of the Port of La Crosse Board of Harbor Commissioners.

 

Marc Schultz made a motion to approve.  Don Meyer seconded.  Jim Bertram had a correction to Page 5, and said that Saturday should have been included as one of the days that the Coast Guard Auxiliary would hold their seminars.  Tom Sweeney made a motion to approve amended.  Don Meyer seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

2)                Review of updated Calendar of Events.

 

John Fisher said that the actual meeting dates have been added to each month.  The North Side Municipal Dock lease has been moved to April as this is a sublease and the April date will be closer to the time that the lease is needed.  The discussion in September regarding the WCPA meeting is simply a follow-up/report on the August WCPA Annual meeting.  Don Meyer will talk to Steve O'Malley with regard to the budget to be sure that August is when this should be addressed by the Harbor Commission.  Marc Schultz thought that October would be a good to have a report from the Sheriff on the boating citations, etc.  In addition, he thought that a preliminary report for redoing the Comprehensive Plan for the harbor should be included.  John Fisher said that this should be added as we know it is needed.  He said that Onalaska is receiving input from the general public regarding their Comprehensive Plan and the La Crosse Joint Harbor Commission could possibly get a brief on what is being addressed their.  Marc Schultz and Wayne Oliver will be attending waterfront planning public hearing and a report of this hearing will be placed on next month’s agenda.  Tom Sweeney made a motion to approve the Calendar of Events.  Wayne Oliver seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

3)        Review draft by-laws.

 

John Fisher had the following changes that were supposed to have been made:  Article III, Section H was to be moved to Article V under “Staff” as a new Section D.  Under Article V, Section A the word “Secretary” after the word “Recording.”  Article VII, Section C the word “Recording” should be added before “Secretary.”  Article VIII, Section A, between the words “members” and “following” the phrase “at the meeting” should be inserted.  Between Articles IX and X there should be a line spacing.  Article X, the phrase “or with special rules of order” should be struck and the word “Society” should be replaced with the word “Commission.”  Article 11, Section A, the phrase “appropriate committee or Ad Hoc Committee Chair.”  Section B has the word “President” changed to “Presiding Officer.”  

 

Tom Sweeney said that Article V, Section B thought that the Recording Secretary is supposed to be the Lead Staff Person.  This will now read the “Lead Staff Person assigned to the Commission shall administer…”  Lead Staff Person and Secretary are the same person and suggested that they the entire document reflect one title for that same person and replace “Secretary” with “Lead Staff Person.”  Article VII has a typographical error wherein “entitled to voted” should read “entitled to vote. 

The new bylaws will be sent to the Commissioners as soon as all changes have been made.  Jim Bertram made a motion to approve with the changes.  Marc Schultz seconded.  The motion passed unanimously. 

 

4)                Approval of Lease between La Crosse County and Brennan Marine – Hintgen Island      Fleeting Site.

 

There was discussion regarding the name “Port of La Crosse Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners” vs. “Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners.”  Dave Lange didn’t think that this should be a problem legally.  Marc Schultz pointed out that the entire portion of the County on the river is considered as the

Port of La Crosse, as the County has jurisdiction.  It was agreed that the “Port of La Crosse Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners” should be on/in the bylaws.

 

Dave Lange said that the Hintgen Island lease between Brennan Marine and the County of La Crosse expires February 9th of this year.  The term of the lease has changed so it terminates in June of 2018, so it is the same as the City lease, which is appropriate because the two sites Hintgen and ILP are used together for efficiency and safety reasons.  Another change is that the rental fee will be $1450/mo.  This was compared to charges made in other river towns.  Karl Green said that these are hard comparisons to make as charges are based on charges for the number of boat slips, wharfage, barge loading, etc.  The only other significant change is that he had used the City lease as his example as it is much more comprehensive regarding indemnification and insurance.  The lease says it must be used as fleeting area. 

 

The use of the area must be as a fleeting area.  Under G of the lease, both parties must acquire licenses they need for using the fleeting areas.  Kent Pehler said that Brennan was not involved with the original fleeting permits application, which was handled by the County Harbor Commission.  The riparian rights holder is required to have the fleeting permit.  Kent said that there is a renewal period in Wisconsin for the fleeting permits, but he was uncertain if this is true with Minnesota.  Karl Green said that he has spoken with the USACOE and they indicated that there are no operational permits required.  Kent Pehler said that Minnesota may have different requirements. 

 

Dave Lange addressed improvement issues and the lease indicates that we might be required to move improvements prior to execution of the lease.  Kent said that Brennan has not made any improvements at this fleeting site except for the improvements that were made with the original construction on the site, which was done under the County’s auspices.   

 

Don Meyer addressed an item Page 2, first paragraph, “If the CPI is modified or no longer published, then another similar index for the La Crosse area shall be substituted in the sole discretion of Lessor.”  He felt that this was too open-ended and what would be used to determine another similar index and what does “similar index” mean?  Larry Kirch said that Gary Ingvalson from the County or Gene Pfaff from the City would know what index this would default to.  It was discussed whether to include “at the County’s discretion” at the end of the sentence.  There are several items that could e used.  Larry Kirch said “All items “ is what the City uses and most leases do not allow for an alternative.  There are four or five CPI’s that could be used.  John Fisher thought that the Commission should decide if the CPI should be identified.  However, Dave Lange thought it should be left at the County’s discretion. 

 

Tom Sweeney addressed different points under any particular Section and thought they should be consistent with other identified points within a section, either numerically or alphabetically throughout the document.   

 

Marc Schultz made a motion to approved with the changes recommended by the Commission.  Don Meyer seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

5)                Discussion and Preparation of Three-Year Harbor Development Statement of Intentions.

 

Larry Kirch said that each year the City Harbor Commission has had standard projects included in their Three Year Statement of Intentions.  This year we must include the County’s concerns within the Three Statement of Intentions.  He stated that Larry Kieck of the Bureau of Railroads and Harbors has said that the Isle La Plume dock wall would not be eligible at this time as the former grant has not been completed for a total of 20 years.  The Recording Secretary will follow up with County staff to obtain information with regard to the County’s concerns.  This will be brought back in February for submittal in April.

 

John Fisher addressed the City’s concerns and asked that the date be changed for Item #1, which is the access road.  He also said that the North Side Dock Wall was given the “high” priority status last year, and Isle La Plume was given the “medium” priority.  These will remain as is for the statement this year.  The eroding island will be removed from the Statement of Intentions as it is difficult to prove that the erosion at the gas docks is being caused by barge movement at ILP.  Larry Kirch said that the leases should be examined for language particulars.  Marc Schultz indicated that the years that the Statement of Intentions will cover will be 2009, 2010 and 2011. 

 

6)                Discussion of Harbor Assistance Compliance Report for docks and Isle La Plume.

 

Larry Kirch said that this is with regard to the tonnage/compliance report that we receive from Kent Pehler at Brennan Marine, which is sent to Patty Martell at City Hall.  A more comprehensive report is sent to the County.  Marc Schultz thought that this was sent to the State, but suggested contacting County Staff with regard to this issue.  Patty Martell will be contacted with regard to the City’s issue.

 

7)                Establish No Wake Zones and ramp signage Ad Hoc Committee.

 

John Fisher  said that the WI DNR has indicated that they want the ramp signage and buoys cleaned up.  He asked for volunteers for an Ad Hoc Committee to address this problem.  Larry Kirch said that the e-mail received from Russ Wilson of the DNR could be used as the basis and starting point along with the permit binder containing the no wake zone buoy information and notify all of those people who were issued the permits.  The Ad Hoc Committee could do a comprehensive review ordinances, buoy permits and waterway markers, and signage at the boat launches and make sure that the City/County are in compliance with Chapter 30.  This committee could meet over the next 90 days. 

 

Larry said that the Ad Hoc could work on the no wake in the Main Channel  Marc Schultz said that last year, when he and John Fisher joined the Sheriff’s Boat Patrol to view buoy placement, they discovered that some were not even legal, and many were out of place.  He believes that the Ad Hoc Committee is a good idea and thinks that they can work on these issues, as adequate enforcement will require the proper placement of buoys and proper signage at the landings.  He thought these should be addressed first and then work on the Main Channel issues.  Larry Kirch and John Fisher thought both issues could be addressed concurrently.  There was some discussion with regard to the GPS readings for buoy placement as well as the buoy permits and the signatures relative to these permits. 

 

Tom Sweeney thought that the Ad Hoc Committee should be established to address all of these issues.  Marc Schultz, Wayne Oliver, Don Meyer, the Lead Staff Person, and the Sheriff’s Department will all be members of this Ad Hoc.  Tom Sweeney made a motion to include those persons on the committee as well as invite Russ Wilson and a WI Department of Natural Resources to be present at that meeting. 

Dale Wetterling seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.  A report from the Ad Hoc will be planned for the March agenda.  Marc Schultz suggested that the Ad Hoc Committee address the SB385 (Senate Bill), which establishes no wake zones on all named lakes (French Lake, Lake Onalaska, Long Lake).

 

8)                Boat and Travel Show final planning.

 

There was discussion regarding what items should be used for the display.  Tom Sweeney suggested having information available regarding the no wake.  In addition, the WCPA display would be available, as well as the County Boating brochures, and Three Rivers Watch brochures.  Kent Pehler will also have additional information (such as the DOT brochure) that he can make available for the booth display.  The historic picture board and power point presentation (showing the benefits of commercial navigations) could be included in the display.  Marc Schultz said that there are aerial photo of the Grand Excursion that should be available (see Jim Hill).  Art Fahey will be contacted regarding availability of tables.  Volunteers for the booth set up include John Fisher, Larry Kirch, Don Meyer, Marc Schultz and Tom Thompson.  Set up begins on Wednesday. 

 

Dale Wetterling said that he would like the No Wake issue included on the agenda for the February meeting.  Larry Kirch – the overall boating regulation can be separate

 

Don Meyer made a motion to adjourn.  Dale Wetterling seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.  President John Fisher adjourned the meeting at 5:57 p.m.

 

                                                          Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

 

                                                          Lawrence J. Kirch, Director

                                                          La Crosse City Planning