Public hearing on buoys is tonight

The Idaho Department of Lands will hold a hearing tonight over buoys proposed across the mouth of Cougar Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Although Kootenai County Parks and Waterways insists the buoys will improve navigation in the area, some bay residents have worried the floating equipment will attract debaucherous boaters.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Sundance Room at the IDOL office at 3258 W. Industrial Loop in Coeur d'Alene.

Anyone is free to give testimony.

The agency will have 30 days to decide whether to approve installing 12 20-inch public-use mooring buoys and 15 regulatory buoys designating the bay's no-wake zone.