MONETA -- While the Smith Mountain Lake Water Safety Council has made a number of recommendations regarding proposed laws aimed at making the lake safer for boaters, the citizens organization said Monday its top priorities are enhancing law enforcement and educating boaters on proper boater operation.

To that end, the task force recommended Monday a mandatory boater education bill that would require all personal watercraft operators to complete a safe-boating course within three years after the law takes effect.

A similar requirement for boaters with a four-year time frame was also approved.

Last month, the task force backed proposed legislation that included creating a 55 mph daytime speed limit and a 25 mph nighttime limit, as well as a noise limit for boat engines and a proposal to increase from nine to 19 the number of game wardens patrolling the lake.

The task force was formed in September after an August boat collision that killed a Moneta couple.

In that nighttime collision, a Moneta man was charged with crashing his high-performance boat into the couple's cabin cruiser from behind. Authorities say speed is considered to have been a factor in the collision.

On hand for Monday's meeting was Charlie Sledd, the program development director for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Sledd said the department's priorities also were for enhancing enforcement and boater education, but said no formal plans have been created to pitch those two issues to the General Assembly next year for support.

"I don't know what it would be," Sledd said regarding any specific recommendations to lawmakers.

Sledd told the task force, however, that boating safety bills have a better chance of being effective in states where boaters support such legislation.

Regarding a law for mandatory boater education, Sledd said "in the states where it becomes successful, it gets embraced by the boating community."

But some lake residents who spoke at Monday's meeting said the task force doesn't speak for all the lake's boaters.

"I feel very strongly that I'm here to represent what I hear from the community," said task force member Bill Telford.

But he acknowledged that differences among residents on just how to make the lake safer will hurt any chances of getting boating legislation passed.

"Until we end that, we're not going to get anywhere," he said.

Those representing the Smith Mountain Lake Water Ski Club, the Smith Mountain Lake Boating Association and the Smith Mountain Lake Power Boat Association, as well as a seasonal lake resident, said proposed speed limits and a proposal to require a spotter on boats that pull water-skiers and wake boarders would reduce the lake's recreational appeal.

After some discussion, the task force changed its proposal for spotters to include only boats that pull tubers.

But a discussion over whether to increase the nighttime speed limit from 25 to 35 mph yielded no resolution.

"Twenty-five miles per hour at night would be ridiculous," said Morris Johnson Jr., who represents the boating association.

Some argued that performance boats need to go at least 35 mph in order for operators to control them properly.

When the task force was formed chairman Ralph Brush said the committee would also recommend how to address high-performance boats, which have annoyed many residents because of their speed and noise.

But the task force decided that the speed and noise limits proposed would be sufficient to regulate those boats. Game Department statistics also indicated that only two high-performance boats were involved in accidents on the lake over the last five years.

The task force will meet privately this month before announcing all of its recommendations to the community during a town hall meeting Dec. 5 at Trinity Ecumenical Parish.