HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
10-31-2005, 08:19 PM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
Originally Posted by docmanrich37
Shh. their watching us.lol
10-31-2005, 08:50 PM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
they're proposals will affect all inland lakes in VA (speed limits) but that will also make it "special legislation" and it would take 2/3rd's vote in the house to pass,
bit remember this is just the task force's suggestions and if the DGIF does not like what they come up with they will propose what they feel will be the best solution.
bit remember this is just the task force's suggestions and if the DGIF does not like what they come up with they will propose what they feel will be the best solution.
11-01-2005, 07:23 AM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
DAVE P WORK PHONE NUMBER: 732-899-7886.Dave is a VP of Essex Credit in New Jersey and also does a great job on performance boat loans.
11-01-2005, 09:04 AM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
Originally Posted by Blue by You
Another poll: Go ahead & vote. There has also been some new changes. There is 2-4 board members still looking at speed & noise as a safety issue, even though the USCG has said sound does NOT pose any safety threat & with the exception of the latest accident...neither has speed. Eitherway...they want all power boaters off the lake. (And YES John P I'm talking about you... you're the one who has written the 3+ articles stating that you want YOUR lake back from us arrogant powerboaters. Guess what...it's not your lake)
http://www.smithmountaineagle.com/
http://www.smithmountaineagle.com/
12-09-2005, 09:04 AM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Game chief quashes speed limit idea at lake
http://search.roanoke.com/dtSearch/d...%5fform%2ehtml
There's no evidence, he said, that speed limits would improve safety at Smith Mountain Lake. Talk about lake safety on the message board.
By Mason Adams
(540) 981-3149
The Roanoke Times
MONETA -- The head of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said Tuesday night that he'd support efforts to bring more game wardens and mandatory boater education to Smith Mountain Lake, but not speed or noise limits.
Col. Gerald Massengill made his comments in response to recommendations by the 11-member Smith Mountain Lake Water Safety Task Force. Those recommendations, presented by Advertisement
task force spokesman Ralph Brush, included boat speed and noise limits, a greater law enforcement presence on the lake and mandatory education for boaters.
Massengill said he wouldn't rule out the eventual possibility of speed limits on Virginia's waterways, but he told a crowd of about 175 that there was no evidence to show that speed limits in general -- much less the 55-mph day limit and 25-mph night limit recommended by the task force -- would improve boating safety.
An August boating accident that killed two well-known lake residents and their dog brought the issue of boating safety to the forefront at Smith Mountain Lake. Speed limits and the use of high-performance boats have been points of contention since then.
"We've looked and we've looked hard, but we can't provide our legislators a rationale for the selection of those numbers as opposed to any other numbers," Massengill said.
Massengill said an existing law allows wardens to pull over boaters driving at an unsafe speed. And with new radar detectors provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Game Department will not only be able to better prove its cases in court, but collect data on speed as well, he said.
Similarly, there's no evidence that restricting boat noise will improve safety, Massengill said.
State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, did not attend the meeting, but he wrote in a letter that he planned to include a nighttime speed limit in his recommendations for the upcoming legislative session.
Massengill said the Game Department would support the task force's recommendations to restore full funding of Virginia's 2 percent watercraft sales and use tax. Though intended for the Game Department, the General Assembly has channeled that money to other funds over the past three years.
The water safety task force recommended that money instead be used to hire 10 new wardens, bringing the total on Smith Mountain Lake to 19.
Massengill also supported mandatory boater education, to be phased in over eight to 10 years.
"An excellent first step would be to require law violators to complete a course as part of their penalty," he said.
Bruce Dungan, president of the Smith Mountain Lake Association, said the Game Department's plans mark a step forward for lake safety.
"I think we've got a fair amount of common ground," Dungan said. "Both sides feel strongly about it, and we've got some room for debate."
Brush said he was pleased with Massengill's response. He was even happier about response among lake residents.
"We have come so far in three months," Brush said. "We've come so far in bringing this community together."
In his speech presenting the task force's findings, Brush noted that posters at a message board on a performance boat Web site had ridiculed members of the team, calling them an "outdated generation" and "bitter and selfish in their old age."
Brush said he saw a lot of people who owned performance boats at the meeting, but that there was a feeling of cooperation among the various lake interest groups. The task force did not recommend the banning of high-speed performance boats or personal watercraft such as Jet Skis.
Although most lake-area legislators did not to attend the meeting, which was rescheduled after Monday's snow, Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, was there. He said he knew the Game Department had put a lot of time into the issue and he'd look closely at Massengill's recommendations.
Staff writer Jay Conley contributed to this report.
Game chief quashes speed limit idea at lake
http://search.roanoke.com/dtSearch/d...%5fform%2ehtml
There's no evidence, he said, that speed limits would improve safety at Smith Mountain Lake. Talk about lake safety on the message board.
By Mason Adams
(540) 981-3149
The Roanoke Times
MONETA -- The head of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said Tuesday night that he'd support efforts to bring more game wardens and mandatory boater education to Smith Mountain Lake, but not speed or noise limits.
Col. Gerald Massengill made his comments in response to recommendations by the 11-member Smith Mountain Lake Water Safety Task Force. Those recommendations, presented by Advertisement
task force spokesman Ralph Brush, included boat speed and noise limits, a greater law enforcement presence on the lake and mandatory education for boaters.
Massengill said he wouldn't rule out the eventual possibility of speed limits on Virginia's waterways, but he told a crowd of about 175 that there was no evidence to show that speed limits in general -- much less the 55-mph day limit and 25-mph night limit recommended by the task force -- would improve boating safety.
An August boating accident that killed two well-known lake residents and their dog brought the issue of boating safety to the forefront at Smith Mountain Lake. Speed limits and the use of high-performance boats have been points of contention since then.
"We've looked and we've looked hard, but we can't provide our legislators a rationale for the selection of those numbers as opposed to any other numbers," Massengill said.
Massengill said an existing law allows wardens to pull over boaters driving at an unsafe speed. And with new radar detectors provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Game Department will not only be able to better prove its cases in court, but collect data on speed as well, he said.
Similarly, there's no evidence that restricting boat noise will improve safety, Massengill said.
State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, did not attend the meeting, but he wrote in a letter that he planned to include a nighttime speed limit in his recommendations for the upcoming legislative session.
Massengill said the Game Department would support the task force's recommendations to restore full funding of Virginia's 2 percent watercraft sales and use tax. Though intended for the Game Department, the General Assembly has channeled that money to other funds over the past three years.
The water safety task force recommended that money instead be used to hire 10 new wardens, bringing the total on Smith Mountain Lake to 19.
Massengill also supported mandatory boater education, to be phased in over eight to 10 years.
"An excellent first step would be to require law violators to complete a course as part of their penalty," he said.
Bruce Dungan, president of the Smith Mountain Lake Association, said the Game Department's plans mark a step forward for lake safety.
"I think we've got a fair amount of common ground," Dungan said. "Both sides feel strongly about it, and we've got some room for debate."
Brush said he was pleased with Massengill's response. He was even happier about response among lake residents.
"We have come so far in three months," Brush said. "We've come so far in bringing this community together."
In his speech presenting the task force's findings, Brush noted that posters at a message board on a performance boat Web site had ridiculed members of the team, calling them an "outdated generation" and "bitter and selfish in their old age."
Brush said he saw a lot of people who owned performance boats at the meeting, but that there was a feeling of cooperation among the various lake interest groups. The task force did not recommend the banning of high-speed performance boats or personal watercraft such as Jet Skis.
Although most lake-area legislators did not to attend the meeting, which was rescheduled after Monday's snow, Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, was there. He said he knew the Game Department had put a lot of time into the issue and he'd look closely at Massengill's recommendations.
Staff writer Jay Conley contributed to this report.
12-09-2005, 10:16 AM
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
There was another thread started by someone in SARASOTA I think and had us all vote on link set up by the local officials. Many OSO'er voted against the speed and noise regs. I am not sure of the outocme from that voting. Maybe that person will see this thread and let us know the final outcome.
12-12-2005, 06:12 AM
#39
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Re: HELP!!! VIRGINIA Powerboaters are under FIRE!!!!!!!!
Originally Posted by Blue by You
Brush noted that posters at a message board on a performance boat Web site had ridiculed members of the team, calling them an "outdated generation" and "bitter and selfish in their old age."
12-12-2005, 06:14 AM
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