MARINETTE — Those who drive their side-by-sides in Marinette County might be able to drive them more often in the winter if the county board passes a new amended ordinance.
On Wednesday, the Marinette County Infrastructure Committee passed a recommendation that the county board amend an ordinance concerning ATV/UTV trails.
They voted to remove the language that prevented driving on roads covered with snow and ice, and they also removed language requiring blinkers on ATVs and UTVs when driving at night.
County supervisors Hank Novak, Tim Pelzek, Roger Allen and Tom Gromala voted yes to remove the language in the ordinance, while Bill Stankevich and Shirley Kaufman voted no.
The group also voted to pass the issue onto the county board as amended, with Kaufman voting no.
The change in snow and ice restriction was more significant than the change in blinker language. The snow and ice change dealt with not allowing people to drive on county highway routes from December 1 to May 1 if snow and ice were present.
With the new language changes, all it would take is the approval of the main county board before it’s cemented into law.
If changed, all county highways will allow the vehicles year-round.
Along with the ordinance came a petition of just over 1,000 signatures supporting Marinette County highways to be open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day for ATV/UTV usage, supported by several Southern Marinette County ATV and UTV Club members in attendance.
County Administrator John Lefebvre said he wasn’t concerned about the blinker language.
“It’s about our employees having to get behind a plow truck that weighs…almost 40 tons with wings that stick out 6 feet on each side,” Lefebvre said. “What does the driver have to do? Lift up his plow? Does he go past them? Does he hit the ATV with slush from the plow? I see a potential conflict for our drivers.”
Eric Burmeister, the highway commissioner, said he’d been involved with this ordinance for six years.
“This ordinance has been rewritten 24 times,” Burmeister said. “Putting these vehicles on the roads while we’re trying to perform winter maintenance exposes greater liability to the highway department.”
Marinette County Sheriff Randy Miller said he contacted 26 counties to ask how their implementation has been working.
“Really, none of them reported an increase in issues with this same practice,” he said.
He recommended removing the language on ice, snow and blinkers.
“I don’t feel that right now there’s a need for that,” Miller said. “If an issue arose and we had plows taking out windshields and pushing them into the ditch, I feel that could be an issue after. Right now, I have nothing.”
Last year, the department saw two crashes — one fatal — that were alcohol-related. This year, they also had a crash, but it was also alcohol-related and operator error.
“No matter what you do, if you pass this or don’t pass this, you’re still going to have issues,” Miller said.
Supervisor John Guarisco said he was mainly concerned about drinking and driving with these vehicles.
“In my opinion, the state has not caught up to the trends,” Miller said.
Although you can’t operate a UTV, snowmobile or watercraft with a blood alcohol level of 0.08%, the fines differ from those for a traditional vehicle.
“The fines are about half,” Miller said. “They do not go on your driving record for any of the recreational violations.”
Guarisco said that was a big difference.
“It’s a difference in deterrence,” Guarisco said. “My concern is those people that will abuse it.”
Supervisor Novak said the county should address the issues when they come up.
“You can, ‘What if?’ anything to death,” Novak said. “I’m a firm believer that we should open this up with no restrictions at all.”
Lefebvre said he wasn’t opposed to the committee’s work but wanted to clarify a few things.
“We’re never opposed to finding out what other counties do,” Lefebvre said. “You don’t hear from the silent majority out there — always keep that in mind. Just because another county does something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for Marinette County.”
Burmeister said he was doing his job.
“From my standpoint as highway commissioner, I’ve spoken to my crew, I’ve spoken to my staff and they are in the same feeling I am,” Burmeister said. “Some sort of protection for my operators during winter operations is what they’d like.”
He said he would support the ordinance however the committee decided, but reminded them of what’s ahead.
“Once you open the doors and let the cattle out, reeling it back in to make it more restrictive now is going to make it that much more difficult,” Burmeister said.
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