Residents express views on ATV use on Koshkonong town roads; ordinance remains under consideration

By Kim McDarison

Some 60 people, by town of Koshkonong officials’ count, attended a public hearing Wednesday in the town’s maintenance garage to express their views about opening town of Koshkonong roads for use by operators of all-terrain vehicles. 

In Addition, Town of Koshkonong Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Burlingame reported Wednesday, the town received some 60 emails expressing views offered by residents on the same topic. 

In a followup telephone interview Friday, Burlingame said the turnout was the largest he’d seen over a single town issue in at least eight years. He was grateful, he said, to have strong public involvement. 

A majority of those in attendance Wednesday said they were in favor of opening the roads for use by ATV, UTV and RTV-type vehicles. 

Burlingame told those in attendance that of the emails the town received, about 60% expressed views against the idea. 

Emails expressed strongest disfavor of allowing ATV use on town roads in subdivisions, Burlingame said. 

Before the public hearing commenced, members of the town board held a workshop, which also was attended by the town’s attorney, Noah Rusch, of Madison-based Axley Attorneys. 

During the workshop, town board supervisors discussed amendments to the proposed draft ordinance, which, Burlingame said, would likely be included, with revisions, on the town board’s agenda next month. 

Burlingame, in an earlier interview, told Fort Atkinson Online that the town had been approached by at least one ATV club, asking the town to open the roads for ATV use. 

In response, a proposed ordinance to allow ATV use on town roads was drafted. 

The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance last year allowing ATV use on county roads. 

On Wednesday, several members of the “Koshkonong Kruzers,” an ATV club, attended both the workshop and the public hearing that followed. 

Also in attendance during the workshop was Cory Crose, a deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.  

Responding to questions asked by town board members, Crose said that, following last year’s approval of the ordinance allowing ATV use on county roads, the sheriff’s department had responded to few incidences regarding improper ATV use. 

“As an agency, we’ve dealt with very few complaints with ATVs,” he said. 

Town of Koshkonong Supervisor Matt Hill noted that he had spoken with officials in Palmyra because, he said, there was “considerable opposition” in that community before a similar ordinance allowing ATV use was passed. In his conversations, he said, he learned from officials that the community was having “no problems whatsoever.” 

Hill asked Crose about his experience with concerns about ATV drivers who are underage operating on public roads. 

Crose said that in his experience, underage drivers operate on private property. 

“It doesn’t come out to the roads,” he said. 

Supervisor Erik Hoffman said it was his understanding that ATV drivers had to hold a valid drivers licensed before they could legally operate an ATV on public roads. 

Other supervisors asked how safety issues surrounding ATV operators might be different from those faced by motorcyclists and bicyclists. 

Crose said that incidents regarding motorcycles to which the sheriff’s office responds often involve crashes. He said he believed ATVs were safer, noting: “Four wheels are better than two.” 

He added that ATVs tend to travel at slower speeds than motorcycles. 

Supervisors asked about signage and posted speed limits. 

Crose said that ATVs, would they be allowed on town roads, would have the legal ability to travel at posted speed limits. 

Signage, he said, was “something you guys would have to think about.” 

Hill said that he favored opening all of the town’s roads to ATV use with the exception of roads operating in conjunction with those owned by the city of Fort Atkinson. He also thought areas that are “completely surrounded by the city” should be excluded from ATV use. 

“The city has zero tolerance, which I think is short-sighted,” he said. 

Burlingame said the town had received two letters from Fort Atkinson city officials both of which noted that the city does not allow ATV use of its roads. 

Hill expressed his disappointment that the city did not send a representative to the town’s workshop. 

Burlingame said city officials had been invited, but expressed an interest in remaining neutral as town officials and residents discussed matters within the town’s jurisdiction. 

During discussion, Town of Koshkonong Supervisor Walt Christensen proposed an amendment to the draft ordinance, stating that it would be in effect, upon its adoption, for one year, after which time the board could reevaluate it and adopt its continuation or make further revisions. 

Addressing issues around signage, he said that he was aware that in the town of Sumner, town officials were in control of identifying the placement of signs, and an ATV club was responsible for costs associated with signs, including maintenance. 

Christensen serves on the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors representing wards 4, 5 and 6 in the town of Koshkonong and ward 1 in the town of Sumner. 

Town Board Supervisor Jim Brandenburg said that he did not object to the city’s decision to not allow ATVs on their property, and he also did not object to the town allowing ATV use on its property. 

Supervisors discussed issues of enforcement, with Burlingame noting that he believed burdening the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office with calls would be ineffective. 

Hill disagreed, saying: “If you don’t have a relationship with your neighbors, who should you call?” He suggested the sheriff’s department would be the appropriate choice.

Said Hoffman: “Right now it is illegal for people to ride down subdivision roads, but it’s still happening.” 

Without an ordinance in place, he said, the town has no enforcement tools. 

“We need to set some parameters,” he said. 

Hill pointed to the sheriff’s department as the town’s enforcement option. 

“We have a means for addressing this,” he said. 

Burlingame said that various town residents faced differing challenges. Some had difficulty getting out of their roads due to existing traffic, while others were living on roads that are surrounded by other roads that offered restrictions, disallowing ATV traffic. 

He suggested the ordinance could be amended in such a way that it addressed multiple needs.  

The public hearing 

During the public hearing, 24 residents addressed the board. A majority of commenters expressed support for allowing ATV use of town roads. 

Among those in attendance was State Rep. Don Vruwink, who told Fort Atkinson Online he was there to listen to concerns of constituents. 

Each speaker was allowed up to three minutes to deliver comments. 

Among those who spoke was town resident Steve Helwig, who said his concerns revolved around issues of safety. Since the 1960s, he said, automobiles have been made with more safety features. He told board members that his wife had been involved in a head-on collision where she was traveling 55 miles an hour. Both she and the other occupant survived the crash, he said. He asked those in attendance to consider what an outcome might have been if a car was traveling at 35 miles per hour when it hit a four-wheeler. 

“I assure you, the people in that other vehicle would be dead,” he said. 

Resident Lisa Liotta said she lives in a residential area where traffic is “extremely heavy.” She said she has concerns about adding extra traffic to roads in her area. She asked about age requirements for potential drivers of ATVs on town roads. 

Don Troemel said he was aware that some ATV-type vehicles were operating without being registered. He advocated that the town work towards registering vehicles. He also said many ATV drivers “never turn their lights on.” 

Debra Brown said she understood people’s concerns with safety. 

“In regards to the age limit, all drivers have to hold a valid drivers license and be at least 16 years of age,” she said.

Addressing concerns about hitting someone head-on on a four-wheeler, she asked: “How is that any different than hitting someone on a bicycle? … Or a motorcycle?” 

She noted that unless a bicycle or motorcycle driver was “underage,” they are not required to wear a helmet. 

“I understand your concern for the safety, but really the people that are wanting to do this are going to follow the rules. These machines aren’t cheap,” she said. 

George Jaeckel, who gave a Fort Atkinson address and is on the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, representing wards 8 and 11 in the city of Fort Atkinson and wards 1 and 2 in the town of Koshkonong, said he was a department chairman, adding: “I brought this through the county highway department and through the county supervisors.”

Addressing the board, he said that he had attended four previously held meetings of the town board and no action on the proposed ordinance was taken. 

“And again, tonight there isn’t — it’s discussion only, and I think, honestly, that’s something to do with the way the chairman wants to run it,” he said. 

He also raised concern that the town spent money to send postcards about the public hearing through the mail without approving the expenditure at the last town board meeting. 

He accused the board of allowing the chairman to indiscriminately spend taxpayer money. 

Regarding ATVs on town roads, he said, “This seems a little bit weird because we’re the last township in the county to entertain the motion of opening up our roads. The county roads are open with the speed limit as posted. So you will not have traffic impacts where somebody’s doing 45 down a town road and you’ve got it posted for 35 for UTVs.”

Addressing issues surrounding subdivisions, he said, in some cases people with ATVs living in subdivisions might be within 700 yards of a road they could legally use, but they don’t have a legal road to provide access. 

“Why would you not allow them to legally drive their vehicle to go out?” he asked. 

Koshkonong resident Bill Rader said he was the president of “another club” where access to roads has been available for “about nine years. It’s going very well,” he said. 

He said he understood issues of safety in residential subdivisions, but also was supportive of providing a legal way out of the subdivisions so ATV riders could access the legal network of roads. 

Described himself as the owner of a small sheep farm, Andrew Logan said that he supported allowing ATVs access to roads, but, he posed to town board members what he said was a rhetorical question: “Would you ever, if the Glacial River Trail was not in county jurisdiction, but was in your jurisdiction, would there be any consideration to allowing ATVs to ride down the Glacial River Trail?”

He next answered the question, saying: “of course not.”

He said his road, Groeler Road, and others like it had increased amounts of pedestrian traffic, including “children, bicycles and moms with strollers.”

Additionally, he said, the area is visited by “older fellas on a bike with a spouse, older couples as they are twin-biking, people trying to use the rollerblade — it gets a lot of traffic.”  

He said he was a supporter of letting ATVs get outside of the area. 

“But,” he added, “there’s got to be some intelligent look at the fact that this is the bike trail. If there is some way to make that road wider — add four feet of bike lane so they could actually have an ATV space and bicycles could be safe, I think that should be done anyway — I’d be happy to donate land that I own toward that, or at least have an easement. But that is a very narrow road, with two very blind ’S’ curves, a big hill, you’ve got corn now that blocks my vision getting out of my driveway. There just needs to be some consideration of what you can do in that specific area.”  

President of the Koshkonong Krusers ATV club Dean Trost said ATV use promotes neighborly connections because users often stop and talk with their neighbors. He said more roads, including state highways, have been opening to ATV use over the last 20 years. 

ATV restrictions within the proposed ordinance

According to the draft proposed ordinance, would it receive board approval, all ATV, UTV and RTV vehicles would be subject to its rules and regulations. 

The purpose of the proposed ordinance is to establish routes for such vehicles and regulate their operation in the town, the document states.

The draft stipulates that a club shall be designated and registered with the town, prior to the enactment of the ordinance, with its purpose being to promote safety and responsible use of the aforementioned vehicles, as well as fund, install and maintain applicable signage in accordance with the ordinance. The club’s information will be reported to the town on an annual basis, the draft states. 

The draft adopts as reference from state statutes laws and definitions as they relate to ATV/UTV/RTV use, and defines routes that may be used by such vehicles as “any road that is signed in accordance with the aforementioned statutes, with the following exceptions: “Roads north of Hackbarth Road and east of Business Highway 26 to South Main Street, Old Highway 26 from Koshkonong Mounds Road to Highway 26 overpass.” 

The draft ordinance further stipulates: “All signage shall be provided, installed and maintained by the designated club. The Town of Koshkonong will not be liable for installation, or maintenance of any signage.” 

The draft stipulates 17 “additional restrictions.” Among them: operators must be 16 years or older; operators must have a valid Department of Transportation drivers license; vehicles must operate in single file; operators shall not exceed the posted speed limit; riders under the age of 18 must wear a helmet; ATVs shall be operated on paved and graveled road surfaces; ATVs may not be operated on road shoulders or ditches except to cross at a right angle for property access; the town may use its discretion to close routes at any time; operators must maintain applicable liability insurance; vehicles must have headlights, taillights, mirrors and brake lights, and headlights and taillights must remain on at all times, and ATV-type vehicles may not operate on town roads between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless “directly related to farming operations.” 

The ordinance, as proposed and drafted in advance of amendments suggested Wednesday, is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ATV-draft-ord.pdf. 

An earlier story about the proposed ATV ordinance is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/atv-use-of-town-roads-is-topic-of-koshkonong-public-hearing/.