Lake Independence Parking Lot Access Fees??? Help!

[Shoot2Kill]

Hello all...I guess I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I need some help/info.

On 6/16 a friend and I fish Indy - pulled into the launch lot at around 5:00 - fished, and loaded back up around 11. When I got to my truck there was a "ticket" on my window. I've strained to remember this, but I remember it being more of a "notice" about the parking lot use fee than an actual ticket because I am not the type to blow off something like that had it been an actual ticket. So I read it, drove home and filed it in the trash and completely forgot about it.

Today I got a notice in the mail from the State of MN Violations Bureau and it reads "Late Payment Advisory and Final Demand Notice"....and goes on to state a citation was issued to my vehicle for failure to pay use fees in Hennipin County at Baker PK Independence Parking Lot Access, it has not been paid, and the fine of $120 is due prior to 8/31 or a list of things can happen. At the end of the letter it says in bold "This is your final and only notice". Final and Only? What? $120 fine for not paying a county park acess fee? You gotta be kidding me.

I remember that night talking to my buddy about not seeing anything at the gate about paying a fee, there was nobody at the little guard shack becuase I slowed as I drove by to see if there was a map of the park and I followed another rig right through the entrance so I honestly had no idea there was an access fee because I have never fished that lake before. I remember a few other rigs in the parking lot had these "notices" when we pulled out also. How is it possible for that many people to have ignored paying an access fee? Is it possible for me to have totally skipped where it said it was an actual citation and there was a fee because I was groggy from chucking baits for 6 hours??

Have any of you run into this? It says I have the right to contest the validity of this claim and I am for sure going to go and stand up for myself about this.

I tried to call the # on the letter but of course it was 4:35 and the office closes at 4:30 so I couldn't ask anyone about it.

Suggestions? Thoughts?

[kingfish689]

I find a guy can avoid alot of trouble by just reading every sign at a landing.

[jolstadt]

I'm a little surprised you missed the signs. My suggestion is buy the season pass for $35 if you plan to fish it with any regularity. You can purchase it online. Expensive mistake but not much you will be able to do about it.

Joe Olstadt

[tonkapat]

Shoot to kill the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on three rivers parks are not enough to pay for the dozen or so useless flashlight cops that they hired. Therefore they need to right out as many tickets as possible. Also if you are talking about 11pm you stayed after the park hours and also can be ticketed for that offense as the park closes at 10 pm. I learned that the hard way a couple years back and refuse to park at any of there parks ever. You do not need to pay to launch the boat as it is a dnr ramp, just have to pay to park. If you have a fishing buddy with you you can park elsewhere. Another great thing they do is to plow the launch on tonka shut in the winter. Its pretty obvious they don't want anyone that pays for the park to use it. Good luck

[Hoffer]

I fish Indy alot.

They usually dont even have any people at the entrance anymore.

Car parking is free and entrance is free = but parking for boat launch is 5.00

There are a few signs that show this - and right where you go to launch your boat is a large post with the envelopes that you write in your name, put in the 5 bucks and then drop it in the slot. You tear off the top and put it on the dashboard.

The park is heavily patrolled and you will get a ticket for almost anything there. One time, I parked my trailer and it was a bit close to the white line that delineates each parking spot. Not over - but close to it.

When I went to my vehicle to pull the boat out - I had a warning ticket to not park so close to another parking spot!! Its pretty crazy!

The funny thing is I was just out there with a buddy last night. i got there early before him and was in a hurry to launch my boat. Around 9PM - I suddenly realized that I totally forgot to pay the 5.00 fee. I just kept fishing until 10 - figuring I most likley already had a ticket - but was very lucky and relieved to find out I didnt get one!

Like the above poster mentioned, you can buy a season pass that is good for all of those related park systems for the whole year. I usually do that - and am going to next year.

[jolstadt]

Hey Tonkapat. I asked the question about time last year when I bought my season pass. I was told since I purchased the season pass or even if I just paid the boat launch fee I was authorized to fish as late as I want. I usually fish Indy on weeknights so I have never stayed that late to test it out. Worth verifying I guess though.

Joe Olstadt

[tonkapat]

They may have changed the night rule since I was there last. Nothing like paying to park and then getting a ticket. Like I said I never ever deal with the park anymore. If you find out please let everyone know.

[Shoot2Kill]

I'm a little surprised you missed the signs. My suggestion is buy the season pass for $35 if you plan to fish it with any regularity. You can purchase it online. Expensive mistake but not much you will be able to do about it.

Joe Olstadt

I must have just been excited to get out and fish and missed them. I had never fished there before and probably won't in the future so I'm not buying the pass. That day we fished was the first sunny day after about 10 days of crappy weather so the launch was backed up with boats and we stood and talked to other muskie guys while waiting in line and once it was our turn to launch we weren't dilly dallying around so as to not hold up the line and obviously missed the signs at the launch itself.

$120 fine for not paying a $5 parking fee? That is flat out insane. I will be going to fight this - I'm not just giving in. If I loose, oh well, at least someone will hear me.

[RumRiverRat]

The 120 bucks seems fair punishment for failing to read and follow very clear directions.

[JRedig]

Good luck, you're gonna need it. You didn't read the signs, didn't follow the rules but don't think that's fair...sounds like a common american theme these days. Man up and pay your ticket. Not to mention the cost of your time spent farting around with it, go do something useful rather than trying to weasel out of it.

I got a speeding ticket a couple months ago. I could fight it, i could show up in court and give a sob story about this and that and why i should have to pay it. You know what? I was speeding, i deserved the ticket. I knew what the limit was and I disregarded it so i'm paying the ticket.

[Shoot2Kill]

Jredig - the thread was to just get some clarification about the park fee, to see if others had done the same or if I was the only dumba**. I didn't see the signs or pay attention to them because I've never launched a boat out of a park ramp before so I didn't think to look, my bad, I now know for the future - I was amped up at the time to get out and chuck baits. I do have the right to contest the charge - if I had know about the access fee and blatently blew off paying it, then blatently blew off the notice on my window (that did not have ANY fine associated with it) then I deserve to pay the fine and will do so.

Sorry to rile you all up. No offense was intended.

[OnAFly]

Get used to tickets at three rivers parks, they'll ticket you for anything they can conjure up.

After getting ticketed for not paying the "TRAILER FEE" while driving my Jetta with a roof rack, I refuse to pay for anything that will give money to that specific park system.

[JimBuck]

Shoot2Kill, I've had a few tickets with Three Rivers Parks over the years including a trailer ticket. Signs are posted in the parks, but in many cases unless you are looking for them or know about the trailer fee it is all too easy to overlook them. I haven't boated on Independence so I can't speak for that lake specifically but I will say that signage is a problem with many of the parks. I think painting pay boxes a different color other than a neutral Brown would be a start. However, if signage and pay boxes were more clear they wouldn't get the revenue in tickets.

If you feel the need to contest the fine, make sure you bring photo documentation that clearly illustrates your issue and try to speak with the prosecutor before court goes into session. You should be able to get it reduced. Of the 3 tickets I've received, 2 of them were waived due to proof of poor signage. The other one I just paid because it was my fault.

Good luck.

[brad coin]

on another note

someone on the M1st board said there was a dead 55 floating on Indy,,,anybody confirm?????

[Musky Buck]

Heck I got a speeding ticket 2 weeks after the alledged incident and lost in court, very true story. Good luck, that 120 will go into the lunch account coffers.

[Shoot2Kill]

Shoot2Kill, I've had a few tickets with Three Rivers Parks over the years including a trailer ticket. Signs are posted in the parks, but in many cases unless you are looking for them or know about the trailer fee it is all too easy to overlook them. I haven't boated on Independence so I can't speak for that lake specifically but I will say that signage is a problem with many of the parks. I think painting pay boxes a different color other than a neutral Brown would be a start. However, if signage and pay boxes were more clear they wouldn't get the revenue in tickets.

If you feel the need to contest the fine, make sure you bring photo documentation that clearly illustrates your issue and try to speak with the prosecutor before court goes into session. You should be able to get it reduced. Of the 3 tickets I've received, 2 of them were waived due to proof of poor signage. The other one I just paid because it was my fault.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for the info and thank you for someone understanding what I was trying to get across - I was not aware that such a sign existed because I've never launced from a park before so I was not looking for the signs and thought it was just like any other ramp. I called the number on the citation this morning and because I live farther than 50 miles out, they said I can write a letter and it can be handled that way, which I just wrote and dropped in the mail. So either way, I'm done with it for now. If they still want to fine me then oh well, I'll pay it, but it's at least worth a shot.

What sucks is that I was about a week away from buying a new Beckman net when I come down to the cities next week....cost of it??? About $120 bucks from TB with my Muskies Inc discount. Ironic eh? Guess I'll continue to wait on that until I hear the outcome since the wife will consider this fine another expense of muskie fishing.

[50inchpig]

Why'd you tell your wife?????

[Fishing_High]

dont know bout the floater on Inday but saw a dead Giant floating on BE 2 weeks ago it was half rotten away but by looking at it an the pic i had to be pushing 50 or 51. Sad site to see thats for sure.

[Hoffer]

I agree that if the poster didnt pay the fee - and even if it was an accidental oversight - they should be able to enforce a unpaid ticket fee.

However, 120.00 escalation from a 5.00 trailer fee is just plain and simple - OUT OF HAND!!

Its pretty riduclous. The punishment should fit the crime.

Some kid speeding down 494 in the middle of heavy traffic would get pulled over and have to pay about the same fee for a speeding ticket.

[Shoot2Kill]

I agree that if the poster didnt pay the fee - and even if it was an accidental oversight - they should be able to enforce a unpaid ticket fee.

I agree...and stated that in the letter that I sent. I have no problem paying the fee or any late charges that may be associated with it, but the escalation to 120 bucks as you said...yeah, a little crazy.

50inch pig - told the wife because I'm retarded at times.

[MuskieJunkie]

After getting ticketed for not paying the "TRAILER FEE" while driving my Jetta with a roof rack, I refuse to pay for anything that will give money to that specific park system.

Were you parked in a trailer parking spot?

[Shoot2Kill]

Thanks to the advice of some in this thread I didn't just roll over and pay this fine. I dropped a letter it the mail last Friday to the MN District Court with my explanation of what happened and I already received a response 6 days later which I find amazing. The main part of the letter is as follows....

Dear Sir:

I can appreciate your frustration in this matter. We have seen several instances of people not seeing the sign in that location. The best that I can offer you is to amend it to a normal parking citation, which is $42, as opposed to the $120 that it is currently.

----------------------------

In my letter to them I told them I was willing to pay the original fine and late fees without question so I'm more than happy with the $42.

It does pay to stand up for yourself every once in a while.

Hopefully others can learn from this and save some $$ and frustration.

Fish on!

[50inchpig]

nice work hoffman - you fought the MAN, and kind of won - better than it usually turns out!

[kingfish689]

In the 2010 fishing regulations there are 22 pages of lakes with special regs on them. No one is expected to know them all but we are expected to read all signs at the landing. And make sure we do so or we stand a good chance of getting a ticket. JMO But I dont think (I did not see it) is a good excuse. You should be making it a point to read all signs at a landing. This the only way you can be sure you are fishing within the laws for that lake. I was at a lake the other day that is infected. A guy pulled out his pontoon out and the trailor was full of weeds as he pulled away. I stoped him and told him he cant leave here with his trailor like that this was an in fected lake. He said he did not know that and that he also did not see the signs.( Iam not sure how you put a boat in an infected lake without seeing the signs ) So should he also be releaved of 2/3 of his wrong doing.As I said in my first post if you dont make sure you have read every sign in the lot. take what you get

[bassfshin24]

Nice work Shoot2kill. The first time i fished on one of the three river park lakes i didnt see the sign either...got lucky and didnt get a ticket. Jredig and RumRiverRat need to calm down a little bit wow. The man didnt do it on purpose, he was just asking for some advice...advice that ended up paying off in the end. Glad you got your fine dropped down.