By Kim McDarison
The Town of Koshkonong Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved the adoption of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) ordinance, which will allow ATVs and utility-terrain vehicles (UTVs) to utilize a majority of the town’s roads.
The new ordinance will remain in effect for one year.
Also on Wednesday, the board approved a resolution allowing for the placement of a referendum question about ATV use on town roads on the November ballot.
During the meeting, Town of Koshkonong Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Burlingame noted that the referendum question will not affect the approval of the ordinance, but instead will provide the town board with a mechanism to better understand whether town residents are in favor of allowing ATV and UTV use on town roads.
The ordinance
Within the ordinance, new language replaces a portion of the town’s ordinances which disallowed the vehicles’ use on town-owned roads.
The measure, which last month brought some 60 people to a public hearing held to discuss the issue in the town’s garage, received unanimous board approval Wednesday.
Some 20 individuals attended Wednesday’s regular board meeting, several of whom were members of the Koshkonong Kruzers, an ATV club which will undergo a registration process with the town board, making it responsible for providing and maintaining signage designating ATV routes. Registration of an identified ATV club is a provision within the ordinance.
According to the ordinance, the board found it necessary to authorize the use of, regulate and establish ATV and UTV routes within the town “in order to protect public health and safety.”
The ordinance stipulates that new language shall in no way be deemed to supplant or otherwise invalidate any provisions within state statutes.
Additionally, the ordinance states, except as otherwise provided by state statutes, ATV and UTV users may not operate their vehicles on the roadway portion of any highway in the town except on those that are designated as ATV and UTV routes.
“Operation of ATVs and UTVs on a roadway in the town that is an ATV or UTV route is authorized only for the extreme right of the roadway except for that left turns may be made from any part of the roadway that is safe given prevailing conditions.” the ordinance stipulates.
The ordinance designates all town roads as ATV and UTV routes with the following exclusions: Woodlawn Drive, Primrose Lane, North and South Ra-Le Drive, Knaack Court, Blackhawk Bluff Drive, Oxbow Bend, Pottawatomi Trail, Carlin Road, and Hackbarth Road from the intersection of Endl Boulevard and Maxwell Way to Business Highway 26.
While a designated club will provide and maintain route signage, the ordinance gives the town board the authority to annually inspect the signs and install signs at the cost of the registered ATV club.
The ordinance includes language about damage to signs, noting that no person may intentionally remove, damage, deface, move or obstruct any uniform ATV/RTV route sign that is legally placed by the state, municipality or any authorized individual.
Possession of such signs obtained in an unlawful manner “creates a rebuttable presumption of illegal possession,” the ordinance states.
The ordinance also establishes additional restrictions and hours of operation.
Among them, all ATV/UTV operators must be 16 or older, have a valid drivers license to operate on a designated route, operate on routes in single file, obey posted speed limits, operate on paved or graveled road surfaces only, and operators may not use road shoulders or ditches except to cross at a right angle for property access.
Riders under the age of 18 must wear helmets.
Further, according to the ordinance, the town board may use its discretion to close any route at any time by removing signage and providing notice to the public.
Operators are required to maintain insurance, and vehicles must have operating headlights, taillights, mirrors and brake lights, with headlights and taillights remaining on at all times.
ATVs and RTVs may not be operated on town roads between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless directly related to farming operations.
Relative to operation within subdivisions, the ordinance states: “in any subdivision encompassed in a plat recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds, all ATV/RTV operators shall take the shortest possible route of ingress to an area within the subdivision or egress to an area not designated a subdivision.”
The ordinance includes regulations regarding noise and vehicle operations that could be identified within the town’s code as a public nuisance.
Resolution, referendum question
The approved resolution outlines the board’s intention to add an “advisory” referendum question to the general election ballot in November.
Language within the resolution states: The town board desires to gauge public interest in the use of ATVs and UTVs on town roads, further noting that the town board “finds the best way to gauge public opinion regarding the use of ATVs and UTVs on town roads is to add an advisory referendum question to the ballot …”
Town of Koshkonong voters in November will find the following question on the ballot: “Should the use of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and Utility-Terrain Vehicles (UTV) continue to be permitted on town roads?”
Responding to questions asked Wednesday about the need for the referendum question, Burlingame said: “The reason for the referendum is that seven people came here for three or four meetings, so I saw them as a special interest group.”
Referencing information discussed during the public hearing held last month, Burlingame said: “About 60% of the people didn’t want this, so I took it upon myself to send out postcards and 60% didn’t want it. So let’s have an advisory question that gives those people a chance to speak. So here’s an opportunity to get a lot of people voting.”
“The referendum is just a means of giving us a gauge,” board member Jim Brandenburg said.
A story about the public hearing held in July is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/residents-express-views-on-atv-use-on-koshkonong-town-roads-ordinance-remains-under-consideration/.
Members of the Town of Koshkonong Board of Supervisors and several members of the public, including members of the Koshkonong Kruzers ATV/UTV club, assemble Wednesday at the Koshkonong Town Hall. Items on the board’s regular meeting agenda included an ordinance which would allow ATV and RTV usage on town-owned roads and a resolution offering a referendum question about ATV/RTV use proposed for the November general election ballot. Both measures received unanimous approval from the board Wednesday.
Town of Koshkonong Supervisor Jim Brandenburg, from left, Town of Koshkonong Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Burlingame, and town Supervisor Walt Christensen review documents in advance of Wednesday’s regular monthly meeting held at the Koshkonong Town Hall.
Kim McDarison photos.
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