Stearns Commissioners Approve “No Wake Zone” Request Signs

ST. CLOUD -- More than a dozen homeowners, sportsmen and resort owners testified before the Stearns County Board of Commissioners regarding "no wake zones" on the county's lakes.

The county was considering their options on how to address record high water levels and balance the homeowners' flooding and erosion problems with the recreational boaters.

Jim DeRose owns Riverside Resort on Cedar Island Lake near Richmond. He says he can't rent his rooms if vacationers can't use the lake.

But, homeowners say their shorelines are eroding, their basements are flooding and their retaining walls are getting damaged.

In the end, the county board is having signs made up to ask boaters to observe "no wake" zones on lakes deemed necessary.

The county would need DNR permission to enact "no wake" zones longer than five days and Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner says enforcement would prove difficult.