What to do about speed?: City officials discuss restrictions for Riverfront Park

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

WRAY

City officials said Monday problems with speeding boats and jet skis at Riverfront Park have risen to the point where state legislation is necessary.

Although there is already a sign posted designating the area as a “no wake area,” Parks and Recreation Director Carlene Brown reported complaints about problems occurring all along the river bank and said the concentrated problems have occurred mainly at Riverfront Park.

Problems have ranged from jet skis or boats spraying water on other boats, roughing up the water, which affects fishermen on the banks, to scaring the ducks, she said.

“They’re just disrupting the enjoyable environment we’ve tried to create for people at the river,” Brown said. “And it’s not safe to be traveling in congested areas at high speeds.”

City officials meeting for the Parks and Recreation Committee Monday also mentioned private property issues where boaters dock and camp on private lawns, concerns about safety when approaching the dam, as well as people parking on the boat ramp. They ultimately settled on enforcing the no wake zone as a starting point in an attempt to settle the speeding or disturbance issues.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency representative Joey Wray, invited by Parks and Recreation Committee members, advised members to proceed with caution when passing different regulations, saying some can be too subjective to enforce or that an idea for prohibiting jet skis from operating there would be discriminatory.

He also said there are a number of procedural steps to be taken before TWRA can enforce a no wake zone at the park, noting it must be officially designated as such through administrative procedure initiated by a letter from the city and legislative approval on the state level.

“Without that, we couldn’t enforce it,” he said, prompting officials to wonder if the city could also enforce restrictions on the water at the park. Wray said there have been instances in the past where officials have noticed a violation but could do little about it.

Wray said city officers can’t put a boat in the water to chase people violated the no wake zone. That’s up to TWRA to enforce.

Officials also discussed a boat ramp fee at Riverfront Park to help with identifying offending boaters and to help pay for park improvements, but took no action in that regard.

Brown said she expected approval of the no wake zone designation to take between four and six months.

“This will allow for everybody out there to enjoy what they’re doing,” she added.