June 5, 2023 at 12:06 p.m.
St. Germain town roads now open to year-round ATV/UTV use
By Fred Williston-
The vote to amend the town's ATV/UTV ordinance followed a public comment session during which only two people spoke. One audience member who did not identify himself was in favor of the change.
"It would be a real asset to the town," he said.
Resident Phil Monday said the ordinance change would largely be an exercise in futility, since ATV and UTV riders "already go wherever they want, whenever they want."
"Enforcement is always a challenge, but you still need the ordinance to be able to enforce it," supervisor Ted Ritter responded.
That's the thing: there's nobody to enforce it," Monday replied.
St. Germain does not have a police department, so roadway law enforcement is currently the responsibility of the Vilas County sheriff's office or - on highways - the Wisconsin State Patrol.
"Well, you still need the ordinance," Ritter responded.
Speaking with The Lakeland Times after the session, Ritter said he was not surprised by the lack of public input at the meeting.
"When this topic first came up, I thought 'Oh, Boy! Here we go!'," he said. "But then, the conversation went on over a period of several weeks."
"When the topic of ATVs on town roads first came up, there was strong public pushback," Ritter said. "And several years have passed, and even I - and I didn't vocalize my resistance - I was not comfortable with ATVs on town roads. I have to acknowledge that - other than a few instances in the summertime when it's out-of-town people who just ignore the rules - this hasn't created any great issues."
"The very first year that the summer-only allowance went into effect, the ATV club immediately said 'OK, let's amend the ordinance and let the ice-fishermen get to the public boat landings.' And at that point, I said 'No, we just put this ordinance in place," Ritter explained. "We need to give it some time. We need to give members of the public who are opposed to this some time to see how this is going to work. You can't change the rules this quickly'."
"So now, several years have gone by," he continued, "And I think - in general - residents have come to recognize 'Eh, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.'"
The ordinance change also follows several weeks of negotiations between the St. Germain ATV Club and the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club.
During an April meeting when supervisors first discussed the issue, town board chairman Tom Christensen said he had forwarded the club's request for an ordinance change to the Bo-Boens.
"At the very least, I think we should have input from them - one way or the other - as to what their feelings are about it," he said.
Resident Steve LaRiviere, who was in attendance at that meeting, said "I'm just curious why you want to ask the snowmobile club regarding the ATV routes. If we're not allowed on the snowmobile club routes (sic), I'm just curious why their opinion would matter if we're having our own routes. And nothing against them, the snowmobile club. Because I'm a snowmobiler, too. I'm just curious as to why their opinion would matter if we're not using any of their trails."
"It's strictly out of respect for their snowmobile trails," Christensen answered. "I do feel there is a very high potential of confusion, and that's one of the reasons I'm worried about it. And the snowmobile business in the Town of St. Germain in the wintertime is too big to ruin for the ATV club, in my opinion. So if they have a concern that I'm not aware of, or if they don't have any concern, that helps me make my decision."
In his discussion with The Times, Ritter explained further. "Obviously, it's the ATV Club who wanted the roads open in the winter, and the Bo-Boen club was very, very concerned. They didn't want to take each other on head-on, but the Bo-Boens were not happy with this proposal. When (the ATV club) first brought it to the town, I talked to (ATV club president) Gary (Penner) and said 'You know, if you want this to pass, I think you've got to work one-on-one with the Bo-Boen Club. If you guys can come up with the language and the terms that you're comfortable with, I don't think you'll have any problem getting it approved by the town. But if you guys are fighting over it, this isn't going to happen'. He was in complete agreement, and he and (Bo-Boen club president) Roger (Klein) worked it all out."
During that April meeting, Penner explained his club's request was limited to sharing town roads which are designated as snowmobile routes, not the segregated snowmobile-only trails. "Today, you cannot ride on the snowmobile trails, period," he said. "That's the state law."
During a follow-up discussion at a May 8 board meeting, Penner said he also spoke with Minocqua's town chairman "because I know they just went through this whole process. He had some good advice along the way. One of those was what resulted in another change to the ordinance there where we would have an annual review at an April or May town meeting. The Bo-Boens and the ATV Club, law enforcement, the town, and the public would all have input into that discussion."
The ordinance - as amended - does call for such an annual review.
In the course of discussions on May 8, Ritter asked Klein if adding the annual review provision to the ordinance causes a concern.
"Yes it does," Klein replied. "If it doesn't work, then the board has a chance to reconsider."
"It's worded in such a way that the annual review can result in any changes that are appropriate," Ritter said.
"It's similar to authorizing the snowmobile routes on the town roads, correct?" supervisor Brian Cooper asked.
Klein replied "Yes."
"Because we don't necessarily have to do that," Cooper said.
Speaking with The Times, Ritter said, "In this case, the Bo-Boen club could potentially come back and say 'This is a disaster. We're losing property easements because people don't like the ATVs using their property in the winter' - or whatever - 'Change the ordinance. Take it back to where it used to be'.
"People have got to understand that if there are violations out there, we're going to lose this," Penner told the board. "We will work closely with the Bo-Boens and with law enforcement in this town to make this a success."
Immediately following the vote, Ritter singled out Penner and Klein. "I want to thank both of these gentlemen for making this a fairly easy thing to discuss," he said.
"I have great respect for Gary Penner," Ritter elaborated to The Times. He pulled this off really well. He went to the Bo-Boen board of directors and they talked about this at great length. And they came back with language that both of those two clubs were comfortable with. That's why I commended both of them. This was a seamless project because of the way they presented it."
"Now," Ritter added, "Let's see if it works."
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