The Boating Safety Committee’s purpose is to promote boating safety on Pelican Lake. It shares boating safety information on the association’s website — courtesy boating practices as well as the rules — and, recognizing that reading rules and regulations can be boring, offers occasional boating safety tips as informal reminders. The committee also takes charge of the hazard buoy program.
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Chair
Jim Frymark
Questions for the Committee? Email boating@pelicanlakeassociation.org.
Why this committee matters more than it used to
Buoys are a critical component of boating safety on Pelican Lake. They mark the hazards and sensitive areas that need caution: rock piles, navigation channels through weedy areas, and no-wake zones that protect the shoreline.
For decades the buoys were a shared responsibility. The Towns of Schoepke and Enterprise each paid to place and remove buoys in their own waters, and the association paid to maintain and replace them. It worked, and most people on the lake never thought about it.
In 2025, budgeting concerns meant the Town of Enterprise could no longer support its share of the costs. Schoepke passed a resolution to keep funding buoys within its jurisdiction. That left the lake half covered, and the absence of buoys was a major concern for the association.
Two local operators donated their professional services that season so the buoys went in anyway. That solved 2025. It did not solve 2026.
What the committee did about it
A subcommittee spent the year working through the alternatives, in several public meetings open to any member. The conclusion was that the association should take on the entire buoy program rather than watch it shrink town by town — but that it could not absorb the cost into the annual budget without a dedicated source of money behind it.
The proposal went to the membership at the 2026 Annual Membership Meeting and passed. Beginning with the 2026 boating season, the committee took charge of the whole buoy program: placement, removal, maintenance and replacement.
How the buoys are paid for
The buoy program is paid for by members and friends of the lake: donations made when memberships are renewed, retired buoys auctioned at fundraising events, and charitable gifts to the association. Those funds cover placing and removing the buoys each season, and maintaining and replacing them as needed.
The buoy fund at a glance
- Restricted — money given to it is spent on buoys
- Capped at $30,000, approved by the membership
- Above the cap, funds may be used for other association purposes at the board’s discretion
- Funded by donations with membership renewals, auctions of retired buoys, a raffle of a donated hunting blind, a matched contribution from a local charitable trust, memorial gifts, business contributions and a share of dues
- 2025 cost of buoy services: $8,060
The cap is deliberate. A restricted fund with no ceiling accumulates money that cannot be spent on anything else, however badly the association needs it elsewhere. Setting a limit, and letting the board use the surplus above it, keeps the buoys funded without stranding members’ money.
Memorial Gifts
A striking share of the buoy fund comes from memorial giving. When members die, their families often ask that gifts come to the buoys — a piece of the lake that is visibly, permanently there, keeping other people safe. In 2025 memorial gifts to the buoy fund exceeded the entire cost of running the program.
Memorial gifts are acknowledged privately to the family and are not published on this website. How to make a memorial gift.
The Season
Buoys go in once the ice is off and come out before it returns — roughly May to October, depending on the year. Between those dates the committee relies on people on the lake reporting what they see. Buoys are checked by volunteers, not patrolled.
If a buoy is missing, damaged or drifting, report it through the contact form and choose “Boating Safety & Buoys”. Say as precisely as you can where it was, or where it should have been.
For the rules that apply on the water — slow-no-wake distances, landings, and what buoys do and do not tell you — see Boating rules and safety.
News & Minutes
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Bye, Bye, Buoys! (and more updates)
Be ready for important dates around the lake including the fall shocking survey, buoy and pier removal, and fall APM harvest.
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Association takes on full funding of Pelican Lake hazard buoys
Members approved a restricted buoy fund capped at $30,000 at the Annual Membership Meeting, completing the association’s takeover of hazard buoy funding from the two towns.
Everything tagged Boating Safety — news, minutes, documents and meetings.
Help make a difference
Members with concerns or suggestions about boating safety or the buoy program are encouraged to contact the committee at boating@pelicanlakeassociation.org. More importantly, members with an interest in boating safety are encouraged to consider joining the committee and help make a difference in how we promote and financially support boating safety.
The buoy program also needs hands: members who can help with placement and removal, and members who report a buoy that has gone missing. Neither requires being on the committee.