All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Committee
Meeting
Meeting Minutes April 25, 2014
Draft
Day / Date:
Friday April 25, 2014
Time:
6:00 PM
Location:
Town Offices
Attendees: Committee
Members – Don Patch, Bruce Turco, Tim Martin, David Burnor and Francis DeVine
Other Attendees: Danny Hale, Executive Director, Vermont All
Terrain Vehicle Sportsman Association and his wife.
Dan Freeman, Madeleine Faye
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 PM.
Tim Martin as Select Board representative was designated
chairman of the committee.
Martin opened the meeting by discussing the purpose of the
committee. Its aim is to develop a
proposal for the select board concerning opening town roads to ATV use.
Don Patch had provided the committee with a draft ordinance
for consideration. D. Hale commented how
the standard VASA template had been used as a basis, but that it can and was
modified for our use by Patch.
The purpose was discussed and D. Freeman pointed out that
his understanding was that it was to allow ATV’s to go from one point to the
other on a town road when required.
D. Hale discussed the benefits of forming a VASA sanctioned
club in town. The cost of membership was
seen as being more than folks might be willing to pay. He then suggested that the town might want to
consider a municipal membership (see attached description). Under this arrangement the town would receive
administrative support, signage and certain levels of law enforcement. Since this was tied to a true trail program
and the town is only looking at limited road access between private lands, this
type of membership was not seen as applicable at this time. Hale indicated that a membership could be
taken out later if the town would like.
He and his wife then left the meeting.
The committee then began to review and mark-up the draft
ordinance.
NB: The draft
ordinance is incorporated into this document and is in italics.
Purpose
The purpose of this
ordinance is to allow limited approval for all-terrain vehicles to travel on
identified and approved town highways (or sections of highways) while
protecting the health and safety of all vehicle operators, residents, animals,
property and the environment.
The purpose was read with no action taken. Later DeVine suggested that the beginning of
the purpose be modified to read “The purpose of this ordinance is to allow
Mount Holly homeowners and their guests limited approval to travel from their
homes to permitted sites on unpaved town roads (or sections of roads)” …. while
protecting the health and safety of all vehicle operators, residents, animals,
property and the environment.
No action taken.
Definitions
This ordinance will
adopt the definitions of “All-Terrain Vehicle” or “ATV” and “Operate” as
defined in Vermont Title 23 V.S.A. Chapter 31 section 3501.
The committee agreed that using Vermont Title 23 V.S.A.
Chapter 31 section 3501 was practical, and accepted this clause.
Operation Requirements
1)
All-terrain vehicles must be registered and operated
accordance to the requirements of Vermont Title 23 V.S.A. Chapter 31.
The committee agreed.
2)
All-terrain vehicles may only be operated on town
highways between May 1st and December 15th of each year.
Patch explained that these dates were
selected to coincide with the end of mud season and to end with the start of
snowmobile season. Freeman raised the issue of commercial users of ATV’s. As an example, the blackout period would
cover the sugaring season, and as a result cause hardships for those using
ATV’s to collect sap. It was suggested that there be no restrictions on the
timeframe for using ATV’s on roads. This was discussed and one possibility,
keeping damage to roads in mind, was to open the roads after the road posting
season ends.
The discussion will continue.
Another safety concern that was
voiced was ATV’s sharing roads with snowmobiles.
3)
All-terrain vehicles may only be operated on town
highways between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M.
The issue with this was again
commercial users and hunting season. The
suggestion for hunting season was to set the time a one hour
before sunrise and a one hour after sunset. The discussion of the time for
non-hunting season was raised and it was pointed out that there is some form of
hunting allowed almost year round.
The discussion will continue.
4)
All-terrain vehicles may only be operated on sections
of town highways that have been designated and approved by the Select Board.
The committee agreed.
5)
All-terrain vehicles may only be operated on a single
town highway for the purpose of traveling between parcels of land that the
operator can legally operate an all-terrain vehicle on. All-terrain vehicle operation from one town
highway to another is prohibited.
It was suggested that this clause
be removed as it would be to difficult to administer and enforce. Concern was expressed that this was he essence
of the request and should not be removed.
Issue open.
6)
All traffic control devices apply to the operation of
all-terrain vehicles.
The committee agreed
7)
All-terrain
vehicles on the town highway will travel to the far right side, single file, at
a speed not to exceed 20 miles per hour.
The letter from the constable
suggesting 15 mph was raised and the committee did not feel the difference in
speed would be a safety issue.
Enforcement is also an issue.
8)
The operator of
an all-terrain vehicle being operated on a town highway will yield right of way
to all other vehicle and pedestrian traffic including but not limited to
bicyclists and horses.
9)
The operator of
an all-terrain vehicle being operated on a town highway must possess a valid
vehicle operator’s license.
10)
The operator of
an all-terrain vehicle being operated on a town highway must properly wear a
D.O.T. approved helmet.
Sections 8/9/10 were agreed to by the committee.
Highway Approval Process
1)
All-terrain vehicles will only be allowed to travel on
town highways (or sections of highways) approved by the Select Board.
2)
The Select Board reserves the right to allow or deny
permission to operate an all-terrain vehicle on any town highway (or section of
highway). The Select Board reserves the
right to rescind any or all permissions to operate an all-terrain vehicle on
town highways at any time.
3)
All approvals to allow all-terrain vehicle operation
of town highways will expire each year on December 15th.
4)
Each highway (or section of highway) will require a
contact person responsible for the following:
A. Submission of
the application to the Select Board annually.
The application will include address and contact information of the
contact person. The Select Board
reserves the right to approve or deny any requests.
B. Purchase and
post the required signage at both ends of the area opened for all-terrain
vehicle travel. Only those signs
approved by the Select Board will be allowed.
C. Assist local
law enforcement investigating violations of this ordinance when possible.
The highway approval process was discussed and the focus was
on reducing the burden for the select board and the need to approve each
road. It was suggested that a trail
coordinator be appointed to receive and review applications. After performing due diligence on the
application the coordinator would provide a recommendation to the select board
to approve or decline the request. Bruce
Turco indicated a willingness to handle that duty.
A question about notifying residents on a road for which an
approval is being requested was discussed, but not resolved.
There was a discussion about the need for more information
from the town residents and it was suggested that a survey be developed and
distributed. It was also suggested that
the survey include a then current draft of the ordinance in order for the
resident to better understand exactly what is being proposed.
The committee recognized that there were many questions
still unanswered and will meet again on May 5 at 7:00 PM in Town Offices.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Francis P. DeVine Jr.
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