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Off road, on the road

Residents argue over new ordinance that would open Webster County roads to OHV traffic

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Al Deal, of rural Coalville, speaks to the Webster County Supervisors Tuesday on his opposition to a proposed change to the county’s off-highway vehicle ordinance. The supervisors voted to keep the proposal moving forward, but discussed making some changes before it reaches the final step.

Supporters spoke up for proposed new rules for off-highway vehicles Tuesday at the Webster County Board of Supervisors meeting, after mostly opponents made their voices heard at last week’s meeting.

The supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the second of three readings, but said they want to seek some limiting language or a compromise which may help keep people safer on some of the busiest roads in the county.

“I think there’s a compromise. I hate to see the whole thing get scrapped, and have to start over,” Supervisor Mark Campbell said, “but I think we could sit down and figure out a way to keep them off P59, where they can get to Clare and Dayton and Gowrie and the other communities, because I still think there is a way to do this.”

Webster County Road P59, running from the east end of Fort Dodge down to U.S. Highway 20, is one of the busiest county roads in Webster County. A family who lives along the road and two businesses there were among those opposed to the new ordinance.

Shane Harrison, of Badger, said if the supervisors do allow OHVs more use of the roads, it won’t be any different than what’s done in Minnesota and South Dakota.

“I have property in Minnesota, in Cass County. I keep ATVs there all the time,” Harrison said. “It is completely legal to ride them. The only place it’s not legal is on Highway 370 which is a state highway, and even there, in Minnesota they have trails on the side so you can get around. When we go to Minnesota, we park and we don’t drive the truck the rest of the time.”

Harrison responded to Al Deal, who earlier in the meeting said that in Minnesota and Colorado ATVs are banned on multiple roads.

“I also did some checking in South Dakota–it’s completely legal to ride them in South Dakota everywhere, except on the four lane highways,” Harrison said. “In South Dakota, we’ve all been there. We park our trucks and we go.”

Two letters were read during the meeting, one from Decker Truck Line, Inc. and the other from Cemstone Concrete Materials, both located along P59, who opposed the new ordinance with safety concerns.

The road is unsafe for ATVs, the letter from Cemstone Concrete Materials said, and rocks falling from belly dump trucks from industry in the area could pose a hazard.

“The cement truck, or talking about rocks–I’d assume it would be way more dangerous to hit a rock on a motorcycle than it would ever be on an ATV for sure,” Harrison said. “And there’s way more motorcycles as ATVs would travel that road.”

Al Deal and his wife Jan Deal both warned that allowing ATVs on the road would be too dangerous.

Off-highway vehicles are already allowed on gravel roads in Webster County, and are allowed to drive on paved roads for a “reasonable distance,” Sheriff Jim Stubbs said.

The new ordinance would take away that limitation.

Stubbs said he didn’t see any increase in accidents since the older OHV law passed in 2013.

With the new rules ATVs would still be limited to 35 miles per hour, as this is set by state law.

“When you’re driving down the road, 35 mph, if a vehicle’s approaching you you just get off to the side,” Harrison said. “P59’s ideal for it, because you can get completely out of the way if you need to.”

Decker Truck Line Inc. is strongly opposed to the ordinance, Webster County Auditor Doreen Pliner read from a letter from Rick George, vice president of safety at Decker.

“The maximum speed limit of ATVs is 35 mph, which would impede traffic,” George wrote. “According to the Iowa Department of Transportation in 2015, there were 7,000 vehicles a day traveling on P59 between Highway 20 and Fifth Avenue South. Today in 2018 there is certainly even more traffic on that stretch of road. Many of those vehicles are tractor trailer units. ATVs are comparably small and as a result, difficult to see.”

A letter was also read from Lori Rial, of Antlers Pub & Grill in Clare, who said when the current ATV rules went into effect a few years ago, it opened a new customer base for small businesses like hers.

“As a small business owner in a small town, we rely heavily on outside customers to form the support for our small business,” Rial wrote. “My business has benefitted from these customers, and we hope this will continue.”

Kerrie Kuiper, executive director of the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she wasn’t there to tell the board to do anything. But she spoke about how the board is touting the Gypsum City OHV Park at sports shows throughout the country.

“Traditionally Fort Dodge has been very strong in organized sports tourism,” Kuiper said. “But in the last few years we have really been focusing on our outdoor adventure opportunities. … We get a lot of feedback from our potential tourists coming into the community about where will I get gas? Where can I eat? Where can I stay?”

Gypsum City Off-Highway Vehicle Park opened in 2006, and has grown since then. It’s located along P59 just south of Fort Dodge, and has become the largest of its kind in Iowa.

Supervisor Keith Dencklau previously explained how the ordinance would help riders get to small towns to eat, or to get gas.

Supervisor Bob Thode is the only one to previously vote against the ordinance, and voted against it again Tuesday.

“I personally cannot feel good about anything that you’d be required to go 35 mph down P59,” Thode said.

Supervisor Nick Carlson voted for it, but said he wanted changes as well.

“I’d hate to see this ordinance go away. I’ve been for it. The speed limit is kind of a heartache,” Carlson said. “For me consciously to put somebody on that road at 35 mph–I’m on the Fire Department. I’m going to get that call.”

The third and final reading of the ordinance is scheduled for next week. Supervisors were unsure if that will be able to proceed as planned, or if they’ll have to start over if they want to make changes to it.

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