Posted 1/18/01 Loose cannon snowmobilers draw citizensí ire at council meeting By Jason Sileo The Stacy City Council began its newest era with a lengthy meeting Tuesday, Jan. 9 which was at times boisterous, at times frustrating and at other times humorous. Outbursts and bickering from the audience toward the councilors, and among the councilors themselves over the nuances and subtleties of Robertís Rules of Order made for an interesting night. The council covered a wide range of issues, conflicts and complaints at the meeting, chief of which was pervasive bad form by groups of snowmobilers who are, according to citizen testimony, running amok the city on a daily basis. The conversation began when James Ness of Stacy approached the council and said he was tired of risking life and limb for the sake of shoveling snow off the sidewalks outside his home. Ness said he was periodically threatened by packs of snowmobilers who routinely travel on the city sidewalks. ìIím informing the city of this for legal advice,î Ness told the council. ìIím asking this council to ban snowmobiles from our city streets since they canít follow the rules. The council should be aware... of their responsibility when someone gets hit, hurt or killed. Iím hoping this council will do something about this ñ Iíve been trying to do this for the past eight years.î ìItís legal for them to go to and from the trail,î Mayor Kathi Lawrence said. ìFor one thing, they have to be allowed to get gas.î ìIíd like to see a ban ñ since they canít follow the ordinances and stay off the sidewalks: ban ëem from the city streets,î Ness said. ìIn the past theyíve always blamed people coming from out of town. Thatís nonsense. Itís the same snowmobiles Iím seeing every day.î ìSomething that we could take a look at is maybe banning them in high risk areas,î Lawrence said. ìYouíd have to have a man on every corner all night long and all day long,î a man in the audience said, indicating the futility of a ban. ìItís been tried and tried for years and nothing has ever worked... and it donít in any other town.î ìThatís city sidewalk and you should be able to drive on the city sidewalk,î another man in the audience shouted from the back. Ness clearly disagreed. ìCity sidewalk is side-walk,î Ness said with some agitation. ìItís not side-snowmobile trail.î ìItís city walk,î the man replied defiantly. ìItís city walk. Itís owned by the city and you should be able to drive down it with a bicycle or a tricycle or a snowmobile.î Business owner ëswarmed oní Another man in the audience spoke up just then and said he owned two downtown Stacy businesses which he believed were suffering due to snowmobilers who roared through the area. ìI own the video store and the discount store across the street,î the man said. ìPeople are just literally getting run right off the into the snowbanks. Iíve been swarmed on by like six snowmobilers at a time trying to get out of the driveway. ìAll my customers who come in there; theyíre fearful of trying to get across the sidewalk when the snowmobilers are coming. These guys have run into the potted plants, theyíve run into the retaining walls; theyíve almost taken my sign out.î The man concurred with Ness and said shoveling snow from the sidewalks outside his business was a risky proposition. ìItís just becoming a hazard to everybody,î he said. ìIn both my businesses Iíve got people coming in and theyíre fearful, saying, ëwhat the xxxxís going on out there?íî Councilman Mike Haehnel said signs alone were not going to correct the situation. He suggested barricades be put in place which would direct snowmobilers away from pedestrian traffic areas while still providing access to downtown gas stations as well as liquor and convenience stores. City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer said it was time for the city to contact the sheriffís department with regard to the situation. The attorney also suggested the creation of a detailed map which outlined appropriate snowmobile trails, street crossings and business district access. ©Post Review