Fox Lake association asks county to pursue local ordinance to ban wake‑boat activity

Steven Corbin, speaking for the Fox Lake Association, asked Becker County commissioners to help pursue a local surface‑water ordinance that would prohibit wake‑boat operations on Fox Lake. Corbin said the association collected a petition and provided commissioners a packet of research, including studies from the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, and that Lakeview Township unanimously supported the measure at its August meeting. The association argued Fox Lake’s shallow depth (about 143 acres with few spots 20 feet deep) and near‑shore vegetation make the lake unsuitable for wake‑boat wakes, which the group said can travel hundreds of feet and damage shoreline vegetation and structures. Corbin said the lab studies show wake‑boat wakes can cause damage in water shallower than 20 feet and recommended buffers of several hundred feet from shore and docks to avoid harm. County staff said the state Department of Natural Resources must review any proposed local surface‑water ordinance. Carrie, the county administrator, told the board the DNR boating law administrator (Captain Adam Block) provided a packet that counties must fill out; the DNR then has up to 120 days to respond. County staff and the association discussed a sequence of steps — association petition, county review and public hearing, DNR review and final sign‑off — and commissioners said the item should be returned to the board after staff clarifies steps and timing. No county ordinance or staff directive was adopted at the meeting. Commissioners and staff agreed the matter should not be acted on today as an action item; staff will clarify the process and return with proposed next steps for the board and the association. Corbin said his group is not opposed to wake‑boats on larger, appropriate lakes but views Fox Lake as unsuitable and prefers a preventive local rule rather than waiting for shoreline damage and litigation. The board suggested staff would help clarify whether the local public‑hearing step is held by the county, planning and zoning, or jointly, and whether the DNR review must occur before or after a county public hearing. County staff and the association will follow up and return to the board when the packet and process are assembled.