December 12, 2019 Readfield Elementary School Background - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Town of f Cale ledonia ATV/UTV Meetin ing

December 12, 2019 Readfield Elementary School

Background Information

• In October of 2018, the Town of Caledonia was asked to open Town, County, and State roads

within its jurisdiction to ATV/UTV use.

• The Caledonia Town Board understands the desire of ATV/UTV riders to use roads for traveling ,

given no recreational trails are available in this area.

• After completing a comprehensive study of Mining in the Town in May 2019, the Town began

studying this situation and continues today.

• Supervisor Abba was assigned to investigate this situation, collect relevant information, and

periodically report back to the Board.

• Numerous conversations and discussions have occurred, and considerable information has been
• btained.
• The Town Board is at a point where enough information has been collected to begin acting on

this question and will share our progress and perspectives today.

• The Town Board will prioritize the following when making decisions on ATV/UTV use of roads:

Safety of all residents and users of Town roads Ability to enforce and prosecute applicable laws Maintenance of the local rural environment enjoyed here Cost implications to residents

Information Contacts

• Veronica Isherwood – Waupaca County District Attorney
• Tim Wilz – Waupaca County Sheriff
• Dale Mayo – Administrator Vilas County Parks and Recreation Office
• Staff Attorneys – Wisconsin Towns Association
• Ashley Lehocky – Town Counsel Law – Towns attorney
• April Dombrowski – WDNR, Captain, Bureau of Law Enforcement-Recreational Safety
• Heather Gottschalk – WDNR, Recreation Warden
• Wisconsin Department of Insurance
• Paul Hartmann – Agent American Family Insurance
• Dennis Craig – Rural Mutual Insurance – Towns Insurance agent
• Various Townships
• Pete Bosquez – Waupaca County Supervisor
• Dan Brugman – Wis DOT Regional Engineer
• Rich Handrick – Wis DOT ATV/UTV Coordinator

Perspectives on ATV/UTV Use in Caledonia

• The Town of Caledonia does not have now, and likely never will have, ATV/UTV off-road

trails given the lack of public land available for such a use.

• ATV/UTVs will not be allowed to use snowmobile trails at any time of the year.
• The only option, except on private property, for ATV/UTV use in the Town is to designate

local roads as routes.

• We believe there will be minimal economic impact for the Town by allowing ATV/UTV use of

Town roads as routes – Caledonia will not be an ATV/UTV “destination” No hotels, gas stations, retail outlets, or repair shops for users to patronize No recreational trails, parks, or lakes exist in the Town Three restaurants/taverns may benefit

• The most likely use of Town roads will be pass through traffic and local resident use.
• Agricultural and disability exemptions already exist.
• No incremental tax or fee revenue will come to the Town.
• All enforcement and prosecution expenses for managing ATV/UTV use of local roads will

need to be paid from the property tax levy.

• Highways 45 and 96 ( except the 35 MPH area in Readfield ) will not be available for

ATV/UTV use, all County Highways and Town roads could be.

Impacting Legislation

• Controlling Legislation/Codes:

WDNR Administrative Code Chapter NR 64 - All-Terrain Vehicles State Statute 23.33 - All-Terrain Vehicles and Utility Terrain Vehicles

• Both documents detail the designation of trails and routes, rules of operation,

registration, signage, and other relevant information: Trails are off road corridors on private or public land Routes are designated on public highways, local roads, or sidewalks

• State Statute 23.33 authorizes local municipalities to decide on opening Town roads and

State roads within their jurisdiction to ATV/UTV traffic.

• Waupaca County authorized local municipalities to decide on opening County Highways

within their jurisdiction to ATV/UTV traffic with a few stipulations.

• If a Municipality decides to open local roads to ATV/UTV use, a local ordinance must be

passed by the Town Board authorizing the decision. Referendums are advisory only.

• Many Municipalities have passed such ordinances in recent years, some with provisions

that address concerns. Town of Wolf River has a well written, comprehensive ordinance. The Town Board has studied this legislation and identified four issues/gaps with State Statute that are very concerning, and we believe need to be addressed.

Issue # 1 Liability Insurance Coverage

• State Statute 23.33 and DNR Chapter 64 do not require minimum property damage and

personal injury liability insurance for ATV/UTVs when using public roads.

• Other State Statutes require other motorized vehicles to carry minimum liability

coverage when operating on public roads.

• ATV/UTVs must stay within the hard surface portions of public roads when running on

routes and, therefore, will be operating in traffic.

• This issue was highlighted by the Editorial Board of the Vilas County News and Review

Newspaper in a May 8, 2019 editorial.

• Some local municipal ordinances have been written to require liability insurance coverage

for ATV/UTVs. However, the Wisconsin Towns Association legal staff and our Town attorney have provided guidance that these are unenforceable. The Caledonia Town Board believes State Statute 23.33 must be amended to include liability coverage requirements for ATV/UTVs comparable to other vehicles when operating

• n public roads to avoid unacceptable and unnecessary risk to residents.

Issue #2 - Licensing

• State Statute 23.33 and DNR Chapter 64 allow 16-year olds to operate UTVs and 12-year
• lds to operate ATVs on public roads/routes. A drivers’ license is not required.
• Individuals who have lost driving privileges because of OWI violations or other

infractions and no longer have a valid license can continue using public roads by driving ATV/UTVs.

• The Town Board believes the allowance of 12-year olds to operate ATVs on public

roadways is inappropriate given ATVs are arguably more difficult to operate than UTVs and the ATV Manufacturers Association does not recommend their use on paved surfaces. The Town Board believes State Statute 23.33 must be amended to require valid drivers' licenses for all ATV/UTV users on public roads and routes – but not on trails and private

• land. Allowing drivers with suspended licenses to continue to actively use public roads

with ATV/UTVs when they can not drive on public roads with other vehicles is an unacceptable risk to the public. We also believe allowing unlicensed drivers, especially 12-year olds driving ATVs on paved roads, poses an unacceptable risk to residents especially considering the extensive heavy truck traffic on some Town roads.

Issue #3 Enforceability

• State Statute 23.33 passes authority to decide the use of local roads by ATV/UTVs to the

municipality by passing a local ordinance.

• Municipal ordinances can not be stricter than the State Statute they are predicated on. If

municipal ordinances are, the stricter provisions are not enforceable.

• Some Towns and Counties have enacted ordinances that attempt to deal with the issues

described today, including requirements for liability insurance, requiring driver’s licenses, and 35MPH speed limits. Guidance by the DA, Wisconsin Towns Association(WTA), and our attorney indicates that these are not enforceable/prosecutable.

• Guidance from the WTA is that the ATV/UTV enforceable and prosecutable speed limits are

the same speed limit set for cars on a given road. Some Caledonia roads are 45MPH and many are 55MPH. Residential areas are 35MPH. Statute 23.33 sets no speed limits.

• It appears the only decisions municipalities really can make in their ordinances are: Do you

want to open up roads? What roads do you want to open? And do you want to close certain roads during certain times of the year? And nothing else. The Town Board continually encounters inconsistences and disagreements on what is actually required, allowable, and enforceable.

Issue #3 Enforceability

• DNR wardens can not enforce Town ordinances (which the State and County decisions

force this to be) - they are limited to enforcing the State Statute 23.33 and DNR NR 64 provisions.

• The Town does not have the resources needed to employ and maintain a police force or

constable to enforce local ordinances.

• The Town must rely on the Waupaca County Sheriff for all enforcement support.
• The Waupaca County DA can not prosecute Town ordinances so outside attorneys must

be hired to prosecute Town violations at incremental expense to the Town.

• The DA and Captain Dombrowski expressed concern about how enforcement agencies

will be able to know, let alone enforce, the dozens if not hundreds of ordinances that may be within their jurisdiction.

• Discussion with Dale Mayo started on how Vilas County deals with these issues

The Town Board believes 23.33 needs to be amended to provide a Statewide uniform traffic code, like with other motorized vehicles, to simplify the rules of operation and enforcement of ATV/UTV use on municipal roads.

Issue #4 – Cost

• For the Town of Caledonia, all costs for signage, enforcement, and prosecution of the Town Ordinance

will become incremental expenses to the property tax levy assessed to all property owners in the Town.

• There appears to be no registration fee transfer, no trail fee income, or any other means to offset

expenses incurred by the Town.

• Increased business for the local restaurants/taverns will not result in increased revenue for the Town to
• ffset costs. They are taxed on property value by the Town, not income or business.
• Clubs appear willing to assist with signage expense. Legal Counsel cautions against transferring signage

installation and maintenance responsibility to the Clubs, but donation assistance may be an option.

• Because the use of Town roads by ATV/UTVs requires the passage of a Town ordinance, it is expected

that the Sheriff’s Office will require a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town as has been the case for all other Town ordinances requiring Sheriff Office enforcement. Officer costs and prosecution expenses are passed to the Town.

• At this point, it is not possible to determine the actual cost to the Town.

Continued discussions with Dale Mayo on how these costs are managed in Vilas County needs to occur. The Town Board is concerned about the addition of new property tax burdens on local property owners and the resulting cuts to road maintenance that would need to made to offset these incremental costs.

There Are Issues in Areas that have passed Ordinances – Despite What We Hear Source – 2018 Annual Program Report – Wis Recreational Vehicle Safety and Education

• There are nearly 400,000 registered ATV/UTVs in Wisconsin, plus unregistered and out of state

units, twice the number of snowmobiles and growing quickly – 5% in 2018.

• There were 26 fatalities on ATV/UTVs, 21 on boats, and 19 on snowmobiles in 2018.
• Nearly half of ATV/UTV fatalities were on public roads and routes.(Vilas County News and Views)
• 44% of the ATV operators involved in incidents involving injuries that were required to have Safety

Ed Certificates didn’t.

• 1430 citations issued to ATV/UTV users for violations in 2018.
• ATV/UTVs make up 32% of all recreational vehicles but are involved 42% of all incidents involving

injuries – the actual number may be under reported.

• WDNR is considering a comprehensive assessment of the impact in the next few years

We agree that the ATV/UTV use on public roads is clearly not as problematic as some had claimed

• r predicted and the vast majority of operators are law abiding and courteous. But we don’t agree

with the position that there are “no problems so just pass it”. We believe our residents expect this Board to ensure we have studied this and have dealt with issues before moving forward.

Caledonia’s Position on ATV/UTV Use of Town Roads

• Committed to the safety of residents and visitors when using Town facilities including our roads
• Committed to providing a balanced answer to ATV/UTV use for all residents of the Town
• Committed to maintaining the environment enjoyed here today
• Expect very limited economic impact for the Town
• Concerned the costs for this decision will further pressure property tax levies and lead to cuts in

important spending – road maintenance in particular

• The Town believes the State Statute 23.33 has significant gaps that must be addressed:

Uniform set of traffic laws must be created for ATV/UTV use of municipal roads Enforceable/prosecutable laws must be created to manage road use Liability insurance must be required for ATV/UTV operators using public roads Valid drivers' licenses must be required for all municipal road users Enforcement responsibility and cost must be reconciled

• Encourage ATV/UTV Clubs and supporters to help drive the needed changes

There are very clear and specific issues that need to be appropriately addressed before the Town Board can be supportive of the use of ATV/UTVs on local roads.

If anyone has information with factual back up that refutes or offers an alternative perspective any of the information presented, PLEASE stop up after the meeting and meet with me. The Town Board wants to make the best decision for the residents of the Town of Caledonia, so we are searching for impactful and relevant information.