Garden City adopts ordinance banning motorized watercraft on Boise River, clarifies 'Boise River' definition

City Attorney Wadhams presented the third reading and recommended amendments to ordinance 10‑58‑25 to prohibit motorized watercraft on the Boise River and to add a clear definition of the term for the ordinance. He corrected a prior citation and said the statutory authority is Idaho Code 67‑30‑7031(25). He recommended the ordinance exclude tributaries and ponds from the definition so privately managed ponds and HOA ponds would not be covered by the prohibition.

On enforcement, Wadhams said he conferred with Chief of Police Corey Stanbaugh and Lieutenant Domini, and that the police department recommended keeping the municipal penalty as an infraction rather than elevating it to a misdemeanor. He explained that misdemeanors under state law apply to more serious boating offenses (for example leaving the scene of a boating accident or interfering with navigation) and that keeping the municipal offense as an infraction avoids triggering criminal‑process rights such as jury trial and appointment of counsel.

A council member asked Wadhams to walk through the practical difference between an infraction and a misdemeanor; Wadhams replied that county prosecutors (for example Jan Bennett at the county) would pursue misdemeanors when restitution or criminal elements are present, whereas this municipal code chapter is limited to civil infractions similar to traffic tickets. The council moved for third reading by title only with the proposed amendments and then voted to adopt and publish ordinance 10‑58‑25 as amended. The ordinance will take effect per the ordinance language and applies to the Boise River as defined in the amended chapter; the definition explicitly excludes ponds and tributaries.