May 18, 2023 at 2:09 p.m.
St. Germain advances plan to open town roads to year-round ATV/UTV use
Subject to public review and comment
By Fred Williston-
The St. Germain ATV Club submitted a written request to chairman Tom Christensen on March 23 asking for the change. The club's president, Gary Penner, addressed the town board at a meeting in April.
"I've been getting a push on this - questions on this, requests for this - from the town residents for a couple of years," he said. "I know that there was a pushback from some of the original board members about not doing this, but at the time, we did not have the roads open in town, specifically (Wisconsin State Highway) 155 and (Wisconsin State Highway) 70."
"Before, there was really no place to go," Penner said. "You couldn't get across 155 to go west, because that's a snowmobile trail up there. You couldn't go north or east, because you couldn't get out of downtown. You couldn't go south, because you couldn't get through downtown. Well, those roads are open now. 155 and 70 are open, and so now there's someplace to go."
"The towns around us - Eagle River, Minocqua, Woodruff ... Newbold - have opened their town roads. And then, of course there are the county roads: G, O, J; so we can get out to those communities. But I think the biggest push for this has been from local residents wanting to get in their ATVs or UTVs, go down to the post office; go to a restaurant; go see their neighbors; go shopping; get gas, whatever. So that's why we decided to move forward at this point. We now have the capability - physically - to do that. I think it would require an ordinance change ... and so, that's the request."
"This would be for hard-surface roads, which is what Woodruff and Minocqua have done," Penner continued. "And (ATVs and UTVs) would still have to stay off of the snowmobile trails."
Supervisor Ted Ritter asked "Snowmobile trails? Not the town roads that are designated as (snowmobile) routes?"
"Right," Penner said. He later stated "Today, you cannot ride on the snowmobile trails, period ... That's the state law."
"When this was brought up a couple of years ago, that was a big thing: how everybody was going to break the law and drive on the snowmobile trails, and your club members were adamant about that," supervisor Brian Cooper notes.
"Well, I don't necessarily agree with where my club members were at," replied Penner. "I wasn't on-board at that time. Times have changed. And back then - and I don't know this - I don't know if any towns were open, but very few were open year-round. And now, look across the county."
Penner said he has corresponded with other towns which have opened their roads. "They were expecting a lot of trouble," he said, but complaints about ATV/UTV use have been minimal.
Penner also he talked to (Vilas County Sheriff's Office resource officer) Jason Molle.
"I didn't ask him to endorse it at all; I wanted to get his opinion," he said. "He said that it would be better for visitors and locals if we did this. He was saying that consistency would be good; would be best."
Christensen pointed out if the club's request were to be implemented now, there would still be "islands" where ATV/UTV use would be legal, but would not provide egress routes for riders to leave those areas.
"Everybody that lives west on Highway 70 can't get to town," Christensen said. "Everybody that lives on Highway C can't get to town ... Everybody to the east of Jamie's Java now is not going to be able to utilize it, other than to go up and down their road and maybe into Cloverland."
Supervisor Jim Swenson had a question. "Would it create difficulty for the law-enforcement of it, saying 'This half of the town is available; this half ain't'?" he asked.
Referring to his conversation with Deputy Molle, Penner answered "for residents, visitors, and law enforcement, it would be easier if there was consistency across the towns."
At the close of the April discussion, Christensen said he had forwarded the ATV Club's letter to the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club. "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.
Audience member Steve LaRiviere 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."
After the April meeting, Ritter drafted revisions to section 30.05 of the town's code of ordinances and presented them to the board last week.
At the outset of last week's discussion on the subject, Ritter said "I don't have a strong feeling one way or another regarding this project, but I just think it's very important that the ATV club and the snowmobile club are in agreement with whether this should go forward or not, and if so, how. To that point, I think that the amendments to the ordinance before you tonight reflect that."
Penner reported to the board he had been busy over the course of the last month.
"After the April town board meeting, I met with the Bo-Boens," he said. "But before I did that, I contacted law enforcement across Vilas and Oneida Counties. I talked to the sheriff's department (sic) in both counties. I talked to the police departments in Eagle River, Minocqua, Woodruff, Tomahawk, and Rhinelander. And then I talked to snowmobile club presidents in all the town areas around us where the paved town roads are open year-round."
"Law enforcement has no issues," Penner said. "They have not had any complaints about ATVs in those towns on snowmobile trails. They have had no complaints at all. I talked to the club presidents. They have had zero complaints. Not one president had a complaint about ATVs on their snowmobile trails during that period of time."
He 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."
Roger Klein, the president of the Bo-Boen club, was also in attendance at last week's meeting.
"After much discussion, it was decided that we should not oppose it, but try to work with the town board and the ATV club to try to make this work," he said. "That's the official board position of the Bo-Boens. But I still have a lot of concerns."
"I think St. Germain is unique in the number of snowmobile road-routes compared to any town around. We have 18 that we use," he said. "If you're on Found Lake Road, it's very narrow with virtually no shoulders. We have cars and snowmobiles sharing it, but now we've just put another vehicle out there, much like a car. I don't know if that will cause a problem, but it is a concern."
"My biggest concern is losing the trails to trespassing," Klein said. "Will there be enough signage to prevent trespassing so we don't lose any trail?"
"And there's one other unknown," he said. "Will families who choose St. Germain as their snowmobile destination feel differently if they're sharing trails with ATVs? That's where we're at."
"Does adding the annual review provision to the ordinance give you any comfort?" Ritter asked.
"Yes it does," Klein replied. "If it doesn't work, then the board has a chance to re-consider."
"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?" Cooper asked.
Klein replied "Yes".
"Because we don't necessarily have to do that," Cooper said.
Ritter asked Klein "So, having said all of your concerns, I guess I'll just ask you: are you comfortable enough to move forward with this?"
Klein reaffirmed the Bo-Boens' official position that the club "will not oppose" the plan.
"I want people not to think that this is like a snowmobile club-versus-ATV club thing," Penner said. "We all have the same goal, and that's to support tourism in this town."
"People have got to understand that if there are violations out there, we're going to lose this," he said. "We will work closely with the Bo-Boens and with law enforcement in this town to make this a success."
The board voted unanimously to approve amendments to section 30.05, subject to public review and comment.
"In our next town board meeting (May 25 at 6:30 p.m.) we would have it on the agenda for public comment and whether or not we would adopt it," Ritter said."We'd give the public an opportunity to come and speak to it. We aren't required by state statute to have a public hearing on this, but our town practice - our own internal ordinance - requires us to have an opportunity for public input. It's the same thing as a hearing; it's just not as formal as a hearing."
In addition to the provision regarding annual review, the drafted changes to section 30.05 specify "Unless otherwise posted, all routes on paved Town roads are open year-round."
The draft also states, "Routes on non-paved Town roads are open from May 1 to October 31."
Regarding snowmobile trails usage, the proposal states ATV/UTV usage on trails will be prohibited from November 1 to April 30, and from May 1 to October 31, "ATV/UTV usage allowed on designated ATV/UTV routes and trails as indicated by signage and as identified on area ATV/UTV maps."
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