TOWN OF HUNTER, SAWYER COUNTY
WAKESURFING PROTECTION AREA
ORDINANCE NO. 2025-01
AMENDED
SECTION 1 – PURPOSE
An ordinance to regulate boating upon all the waters within the Town of Hunter, Sawyer County, Wisconsin and prescribing penalties for violation thereof.
SECTION 2 – AUTHORITY
The Town Board of the Town of Hunter does ordain as follows:
SECTION 3 – APPLICABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT
The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to all the waters within the Town of Hunter. This ordinance shall be enforced by the officers of Sawyer County and LCO Conservation.
SECTION 4 – INTENT
The intent of this ordinance is to provide safe and healthful conditions for the enjoyment of aquatic recreation consistent with public rights and interests and the capability of the water resources to minimize shoreline erosion.
SECTION 5 – STATE BOATING AND SAFETY LAWS ADOPTED
State boating laws as found in ss. 30.50 to 30.71, Wis. Stats. are adopted by reference here.
SECTION 6 – PENALTIES
Wisconsin state boating penalties as found in s. 30.80, Wis. Stats., deposits established in the Uniform Deposit and Bail Schedule established by the Wisconsin Judicial Conferences are hereby adopted by reference and all references to fines amended to forfeitures and all references to imprisonment are deleted.
SECTION 7 – SEVERABILITY
The provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed severable and it is expressly declared that the Town of Hunter would have passed the other provisions of this ordinance irrespective of whether or not one or more provisions may be declared invalid. If any provision of this ordinance or the application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
SECTION 8 – WAKESURFING PROHIBITION AREA
No person shall operate a motorboat, as defined in s. 30.50(6), Wis. Stats. on the waters within the Town of Hunter in a manner to enhance an elevated wake for over 50 feet in length closer than 700 feet from any shoreline, dock, pier, raft or other restricted area(s), and only with a minimum of 30-feet of water depth, within the Town of Hunter, Sawyer County. An elevated wake is a trail of disturbed water left by the passage of a watercraft in excess of a 24 inch height above the waterline. Such prohibited operation shall apply to wake enhancement watercraft by the use of ballast, mechanical hydrofoil(s), uneven loading or operation at transition speed. Transition speed means the speed at which the boat is operating at greater than slow-no-wake speed, but not fast enough so the boat is planning.
SECTION 9 – POSTING REQUIREMENTS
The Town Hunter, in coordination with the Chippewa Flowage Area Property Owners Association, shall place and maintain a synopsis of this ordinance at all public access points within the jurisdiction of the Town Hunter pursuant to the requirements of NR 5.15, Wis. Adm. Code.
SECTION 10 – EFFECTIVE DATE
This section will become effective upon its passage.
Amended this 13th day of August, 2025
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Jon M. LeBlanc, Chair
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Barbara M. Czarnecki, Supervisor
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Kyle L. Cummings, Supervisor
Attest:
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Patricia R. Swaffield, Clerk