DNR to host boatlift meeting Monday

by Candice Boutilier<br>Herald Staff Writer
| September 5, 2008 9:00 PM

Public can provide input

MOSES LAKE - The state Department of Natural Resources is hosting a meeting concerning boatlift fees Monday in Moses Lake.

The meeting is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Big Bend Community College in the ATEC building.

DNR plans to provide more information about the fee and will gather public input about the issue.

Earlier this summer several residents were ticketed for failing to register their unauthorized boatlifts with the DNR. The cost is $175 per lift, per year and covers the cost to file the registration of the lift. After confusion and concern about the fee from the Moses Lake community, DNR halted the registration process.

Moses Lake is the only lake ticketed in the state.

"It costs $175 to charge $175 to file $175?" Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, asked about the fee. "Just the idea that a fee can be arbitrarily picked out of the sky and imposed without notice goes against what our government is all about."

She said it appears Moses Lake was the first lake to be ticketed because of its size.

"There aren't enough

attorneys at DNR's disposal to battle Lake Washington residents," she said.

Warnick said she plans to reintroduce legislation in the future to prohibit boatlift fees on Moses Lake. It was introduced in a previous bill in 2006 with Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, but died without a hearing.

"Over the past few months, DNR has received many questions, comments and significant local information regarding state ownership of aquatic lands in Moses Lake, boatlifts and other issues," stated Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland. "Until this is clear, DNR will not impose a license fee for boatlifts on Moses Lake or elsewhere in the state."

DNR is researching who owns the shoreline because it may determine if it can be fined for boatlift registration. There is an issue about what the level of the lake was at statehood.

"I apologize for the rocky start here in Moses Lake but I think this discussion provides an opportunity to move forward more effectively for the long term," Sutherland stated. "The state legislature recognized that landowners next to these water bodies would want access for recreation and directed that a dock and or mooring buoy be allowed without charge. However DNR must assure that their location does not interfere with navigation or other uses of water. DNR is inventorying such uses."