(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
TWIN LAKES, Wis. — A Twin Lakes resident has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources accusing Village President Howard Skinner of keeping his boat at a Lake Elizabeth property with what the resident says is an illegal number of boat slips.
Bryan Neal, chairman of the Twin Lakes Water Quality, Lake Habitat, Fish & Fishing Committee, is the complainant. Neal said Skinner publicly acknowledged the issue Saturday during a Twin Lakes Protection and Rehabilitation District Steering Council meeting and confirmed that his boat is kept at the property in question.
According to Neal, Skinner then told him that if Neal believed the configuration violated state law, he should file a complaint with the DNR.
Neal agreed.
“President Skinner requested that if I hold an opinion there is an illegal configuration of boats at the property a complaint should be filed with the Wisconsin DNR,” Neal wrote. “I responded I would do as he requested I do.”
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Three Boats At Property
Neal’s complaint concerns a residential property on Lake Elizabeth where Skinner keeps his boat.
Neal included a current photograph that he says shows three boats at the property. He also included aerial images showing what he identified as three boats there in June 2026, compared with two boats in May 2021.
(Photo provided by Bryan Neal)
A survey submitted by Neal depicts approximately 60.2 feet of shoreline frontage at the property.
Wisconsin DNR guidance says that for a new pier at a non-commercial property with fewer than three dwelling units, up to two boat slips are allowed for the first 50 feet of shoreline and one additional slip for each additional full 50 feet. Under that formula, approximately 60 feet of shoreline would generally allow two slips.
(Image provided by Bryan Neal)
There is, however, a potential exception. The DNR says existing piers first placed before April 17, 2012 may continue their existing boat-slip usage under the state’s legacy-pier rules. The materials provided by Neal do not establish whether that exception or another DNR authorization applies to the property.
The DNR has not yet issued a determination on Neal’s complaint.
Issue Raised Weeks Ago
Neal had been raising the issue with Skinner and other Village officials for weeks before Saturday’s meeting.
In an Aug. 26 email, Neal said a Lake District resident had complained that an elected official was keeping a boat at a property with three boat slips. Neal later identified that official as Skinner and wrote that the homeowner had confirmed Skinner kept a boat at the property.
Neal also told Village trustees, the Village administrator, police chief and Village attorney about the allegation and asked officials to determine what action, if any, should be taken.
The original allegation came from a Lake District resident who did not want to be publicly identified. Neal ultimately became the complainant after Skinner publicly suggested that he take the matter to the DNR.
Kenosha County Eye reached out to Skinner for comment before publication. He did not respond.
