State lawmakers meet on dock safety at the Lake
Lawmakers held a special meeting in Osage Beach Wednesday morning addressing several safety issues.
State Representatives Diane Franklin (R) Camdenton, Rocky Miller, (R) Tuscumbia and David Wood (R) Versailles heard from citizens about concerns of structural fire, dock and wake safety.
Osage Beach City Hall was packed with hundreds of Lake area citizens eager to weigh in on the issues.
“Certainly dock electrical safety is something that’s first and foremost on Ameren’s mind right now. So, it’s good to get some feedback on that,” said Jeff Green with Shore Line Management.
“We had that tragedy of those children who were killed this year and we have many structures at the lake that are older and don’t have sprinkler systems,” said Representative Diane Franklin.
The issue that drew the biggest crowd was about the wakes left behind by large boats, which can damage docks and even injure swimmers.
Lawmakers heard several different recommendations to limit things like daytime speed limits, stricter licensing, and even wake limits based on boat size.
“It’s a very complicated issue. What causes them and what the solutions are gonna be so we’re really going to have to take some look at that,” said Rep. Diane Franklin.
