No-wake violation penalties hiked

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners have upped the penalties for violating the county’s no-wake rule and said enforcement of the rule will also be stepped up this summer.

The county doubled a first-offense no-wake rule violation from $75 to $150 and added a $300 fine for a second offense, the largest penalty that can be assessed for an infraction under Idaho Code.

Bonner County’s Waterways Advisory Committee is also recommending increasing the no-wake zone from 200 feet to 300 feet from shore and shoreline infrastructure, continue funding the Ride the Core/Avoid the Shore education campaign and installing 10 roving buoys to be rotated in and out of areas where boat wakes are particularly problematic. The committee is also recommending organizing a protocol for reporting wake zone violations through a mobile phone application and that the county issue a statement of support for mandatory statewide boater education.

The committee, however, declined to recommend that the county implement a “fix-it ticket” system where wake zone violators can avoid a fine if they undergo a boater education course that addresses wake zone regulations.

County commissioners began parsing through the various recommendations on Tuesday, but made no decisions on which items to advance and which to abandon.

However, extending the no-wake another 100 feet did not appear to have much support by commissioners.

“The gain is really minimal,” said Commissioner Jeff Connolly, citing scholarly research utilized by the waterways board which held that wakes take considerably greater distances to dissipate.

Commissioner Dan McDonald said shifting the no-wake zone would necessitate the relocation of scores of demarcation buoys around the county, in addition to reprinting signs and boating pamphlets.

“To move to 300 feet is going to be expensive,” McDonald said.

An expanded no-wake zone could also prove problematic on the Clark Fork River, a narrower waterway regulated by an existing 100-foot no-wake rule.

McDonald added that extending the no-wake zone would likely do little to curb scofflaws intent on subverting no-wake regulations.

Although commissioners said emphasis patrols will be deployed to target scofflaws, commissioners said a waterways committee recommendation to add two additional marine deputies couldn’t be implemented because those positions are sustained through Idaho boat registration fees, which is a finite source of funding.

Waterways advised against the fix-it ticket proposal due to the limited amount of instruction available through the sheriff’s office or U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. However, commissioners expressed interest in further investigation.

“Why couldn’t we do it online, on our county website?” said commission Chairman Glen Bailey.

The mobile app proposal, meanwhile, encountered choppy waters, with McDonald suspicious that it was a way for landowners to go after wake zone violators without having to sign the citation, which would make them witnesses in the prosecution of an offender. McDonald said landowners have been reluctant to sign citations to avoid being entangled in a court action.

McDonald advocated for enhancing the Ride the Core/Avoid the Shore campaign.

“It’s going need to be a sustained educational process because every year we’re going to get new boaters in,” said McDonald.