Boat rule that enraged is changed

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The City Council changed a policy at its July 21 meeting that was an irritant to Hudson boat owners.

Under the new rule, city residents will be allowed to launch their boats at the Lakefront Park landing and park their trailers at their residences if the landing parking lot is filled.

Under the old policy, if the landing parking lot was filled with vehicles and trailers, the entrance to the boat launch was barricaded and no one was allowed to put a boat in the water.

Numerous complaints from city boat owners led to the change in policy.

Just 10 stalls in the parking lot were reserved for city residents, and those stalls, along with the rest of the 48-stall lot, were often filled early in the morning on weekends.

Now, city residents who have a blue proof of residency sticker on their trailers, will be allowed to pay a $3 fee and launch their boats even if the parking lot is full.

The proof of residency stickers are available free of charge at City Hall.

While city officials would prefer that boat owners take their trailers home if the lot is filled, the policy was written to say only that they should park their trailers in “a legal location.”

Police Chief Marty Jensen reportedly said that it would be impossible to enforce a rule requiring boat owners to take their trailers home.

The old policy resulted from vehicles and trailers being illegally parked on downtown Hudson streets.

Non-residents of the city will continue to be prevented from launching their boats from the city landing when the parking lot is filled.

The launching fee for Wisconsin residents who don’t live in Hudson is $5. Out-of-state residents pay $10.

Tags: news, hudson, boat, launch, new, policy