A recent article (in the Weekly Vista) discussed the Lake Rangers and their duties, like selling permit stickers for boats on the lakes and running off swimmers at the Lake Avalon dam. That's nice, but there is so much more they should be doing.

Recently, during strong winds, a construction barge broke loose from somewhere on our lake and was blown into our dock, causing damage. We secured it and called the Lake Rangers. This was on a Friday and they said they couldn't come out because it was too windy, and since they weren't working that weekend they would pick it up Monday.

Monday came and went and they never appeared. I called again that afternoon, but no one was there. The next morning they came and towed the barge away.

I called later that day to thank them and to ask if they had identified who owned it. They said they just towed it and left it at the Stoneykirk boat ramp, and they had no way to identify it. I asked why they allowed a barge like that on the lake without any information such as the contractor's name, license, or home number. They told me they had never thought of that. I asked why a barge didn't have to have a permit sticker on it like all the other boats. They told me they never thought of that. I asked how I was to determine who was liable for the damage to my dock. They said that had never come up before and they had never thought of that.

I then suggested that since they had never thought of any of this, then maybe they were negligent and maybe they and the POA were liable. They were not happy with that and said they would look into all of this and get back to me. I never heard from them again. What a worthless organization!

And by the way, why do I constantly see young children on the lake without life jackets? Shouldn't they be enforcing this law? What else do they fail to do?

Donald F. Butz

Bella Vista