MEMBERS PRESENT: President John Fisher
Vice-President Marc Schultz
Commissioner Dale Wetterling
County Supervisor Don Meyer
Commissioner Jim Bertram
Commissioner Wayne Oliver
Commissioner Tom Thompson
Capt. Mike Horstman
MEMBERS ABSENT: Council Member Tom Sweeney
OTHERS PRESENT: Larry Kirch, City Planner
Karl Green Green, UW Extension
Jane Brunner, Recording Secretary
Tim Stowasser, Hanke Terminals
The regular meeting of the Port of La Crosse Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners was held on Monday, March 17, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in the Fifth Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 400 La Crosse Street. President John Fisher called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m.
1) Approval of the minutes of the February 18, 2008 meeting of the Port of La Crosse Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners.
Wayne Oliver made a motion to approve. Marc Schultz seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
2) “Main Channel” No Wake Issues (J. Fisher)
Karl Green had set up a meeting with Bill Yearman, Dave Lange, John Noyes, Marc Schultz, Larry Kirch and John Fisher. The result of the meeting is the understanding that the County can enforce the marker permits which allow the no wake, and a County ordinance is not needed to enforce this. However, a waterway marker permit is needed which requires the submission of a copy of the ordinance, the permit application and the GPS locations of the six markers, proper signatures, and maps. The DNR cannot deny the ordinance and once the waterway markers are permitted, the ordinance is enforceable. Marc Schultz said that it was noted that the Coast Guard had given their verbal approval of the ordinance.
It was agreed at the meeting that the Mayor, representing the City, would sign the permits, as the riparian landowner is to sign. Marc Schultz had questioned why a landowner’s signature was needed for a regulatory buoy when an Ordinance is created.
Larry Kirch said he believes that Bill Yearman felt that the Harbor Commission had received a runaround regarding this ordinance, and that the DNR wants to work with local governments when adopting ordinances. It turned out that the conditions report was not needed. Now the GPS locations must be obtained for inclusion with the permits. GPS information received from the perspective of the boater would be best. Tom Thompson has a GPS available for use once the Harbor Commission has heard back from the WI DNR regarding the permits. The ordinance, as written, does not reference the location of the buoys. John Noyes has five buoys which are used for Riverfest. Larry Kirch suggested purchasing extra buoys, in case some are lost during the boating season.
Captain Horstman said that the County already has a no-wake ordinance on the Main Channel for Riverfest, but suggested that Don Meyer introduce this issue to the County Board and ask that there be an amendment so that the County’s Ordinance fits the areas addressed by the City Ordinance, and make it year round, as this would work better. Larry Kirch said that he and Karl Green can work on the language for the County Ordinance. Karl Green has talked to Dave Lange, the County Corporate Counsel, who agrees that the County should adopt the City’s language for the ordinance. However, modification of the County Ordinance will wait until the permits have been approved.
Larry said that placement of the buoys is normally done by Ron and Rusty’s Rendezvous, but another party is interested in placing a bid for placement. The actual placement goes through the Parks and Recreation Department. He added that Bill Yearman doesn’t like different entities, such as condominium associations and private parties, placing the buoys on the river.
Capt. Horstman said that the County Board has asked that the Sheriff’s Patrol check the buoy placement, and if they are incorrectly placed, then the Harbor Commissioner could write a letter informing the permit holder that they are improperly placed and no longer functional. However, Larry Kirch thought that the Joint Harbor Commission should be in charge of all of the buoys. If someone wants a buoy they would pay for it but the Harbor Commission would install it. He added that the Ad Hoc Committee can address this. Dale Wetterling and Tom Thompson will locate the GPS points on the river and give them to Larry Kirch.
3) Resolution approving the attached Amended Hanke Terminals, Inc. ten (10) year lease for land located on Isle La Plume.
Larry Kirch said that Hanke has agreed to sign the original lease as approved by the Common Council. He is also asking for the proposed amendments. Amendments include improvements and use of the sites and indemnification issues. The WI DOT has been deleted from Section 9, which relates to the indemnification. The reason for this is because the City dock was funded through the Harbor Assistance Program; this lease relates to leasing of the land and has nothing to do with the DOT.
In addition to these amendments, environmental issues caused some delay to the signing of this lease. Tim Stowasser, of Hanke Terminals said that there will be a clay cap put on the land, as requested by the WI DNR. He will give the specifications for that cap to the Harbor Commission for their records. There were questions concerning the access to the property. Tim said that Hanke will make improvements to the road that accesses the property. Tom Thompson made a motion to approve the lease with the changes that were made. Dale Wetterling seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
4) Invitation to State agencies – WI DNR, USF&W, USACOE
John Fisher said that he has not yet invited representatives from the WI DNR. Marc Schultz said that the USACOE is zoning their lands on the river and thought they should be invited to inform the Commission about that activity. He will contact them. Captain Horstman said that if we hope to have the US Fish & Wildlife attend, that an invitation should be given soon, as they get busier as the season moves forward. John Fisher will contact Gretchen Benjamin of the DNR.
5) Discussions regarding plans for the WCPA Annual meeting.
August 7th is the date for this year’s annual meeting. A “save the date” post card is being mailed out to all the WCPA members. Larry Kirch said that the agenda will be similar to last year’s agenda and will be as follows:
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. - coffee and donuts
8:30 - 10:30 a.m. - WCPA Board Meeting
10 30 a.m. - noon – morning session - speakers
Noon - 1:00 p.m. – luncheon. Possible speaker (20 minutes)
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. - afternoon session - speakers
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. – Harbor tour on the Barbara B
5:00 - 7 p.m. - La Crosse Queen or Island Girl will take participants to the North Side Dock and the Logger’s game.
Kent Pehler is working out the details for use of the Barbara B. Larry Kirch has made arrangements for the Loggers game.
Possible presentations include scientific research (such as that presented by Superior/Duluth regarding corrosion) short sea shipping economists, US Fish & Wildlife Action Plan and how it will affect ports, WRDA (Water Resources Development Act), both the environmental and commercial issues, the lock and dam system, possible tour of Skipperliner, Cargill or FJ Robers.
Karl Green thought that Red Wing, Winona and Dubuque could be included in the invitations; Larry Kirch suggested Prairie de Chien as well. An e-mail could be sent out making invitations to interested speakers, such as Dean Haen had done. Marc Schultz thought that someone from the Prairie de Chien, Dubuque, Winona and others could give information about the cities’ involvement with river issues.
Marc Schultz said that he could give an overview of a public meeting addressing invasive species on the river, which is to be held prior to the annual meting. He added that the Great Lakes invasive species issues were actually researched at our local research lab and suggested a possible tour of the Science Center. At this point, Larry Kirch said that the annual meeting event could be held over a two-day period if a tour of the research lab is desired.
6) Approval of the County’s Three Year Statement of Intentions.
The one project submitted by the County is to “Engineer and install two tripod barge/tie off structures for the lower end of the Harold E. Craig Fleeting Facility along with 200 linear feet of rip rap for bank protection throughout this area.” This project was moved to 2010. The placement of the 200 feet of rip rap and both tripods would be down river. Marc Schultz made a motion to approve with a 3% increase to the estimated project cost. John Fisher seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
7) Safe Boating week activities (Jim Bertram, John Fisher)
Jim Bertram said that Safe Boating Week is May 17-23, with Saturday, May 17th being the day when the vessel safety checks will be done at West Copeland Park, beginning at 9 am with the Mayoral proclamation being given soon thereafter. Larry Kirch suggested that both the City and County give the proclamation together. The event will be advertised in the media. The gazebo will be setup with boating safety literature. Jim thought that the City could help bring information to various sports departments, marinas, marine dealers etc. Larry Kirch said that we can make posters. Wayne Oliver thought a large advertisement in the paper would be the best idea. There could be press releases prepared for the La Crosse Tribune, as well as the Onalaska and Holmen papers. In addition, a press conference could be held at Riverside Park right in front of the eagle. This item will be included on the agenda to be addressed at the start of our next meeting.
Jim Bertram said that there is enough public involvement that display of the Sheriff’s patrol boat would be of interest. However, Capt. Horstman said that staffing constraints may prevent this type of participation, since the County is making appearances at three other venues this spring.
8) Future agendas.
The following items are to be included on the next agenda.
Signage for the boat launch. Larry Kirch said that signage should also be addressed by the Ad Hoc Committee
WCPA update
Boating safety week
State agencies invitations
Waterway marker permit update
Tom Thompson made a motion to adjourn. Dale Wetterling seconded. The motion passed unanimously. President John Fisher adjourned the meeting at 5:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Fisher, President
Port of La Crosse
Joint Board of Harbor Commissioners