Abby council reminded of Wisconsin ATV/UTV laws
ATVs and UTVs in the city of Abbotsford were once again a point of discussion for the Abbotsford City Council at its meeting on December 28.
Alderman Jeremiah Zeiset wanted to go over the rules of driving ATVs or UTVs in the city and what people might be currently doing wrong. He reiterated to the council that drinking alcohol in an ATV and UTV has similar laws as drinking in a motor vehicle. The Wisconsin ATV/UTV regulations handbook states:
n It is illegal to operate an ATV/UTV under the influence of alcohol or other drugs while on any property that is open to the public (generally this means trails, routes, lakes/rivers or corridors).
n Being under the influence is a condition in which a person’s ability to operate an ATV/UTV is impaired due to the consumption of drugs and/or alcoholic beverages to the extent that the person’s decision-making ability is negatively affected as well as their balance and reaction time.
n No person may operate an ATV/UTV with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or more. In addition, a person can also be arrested for operating under the influence with a BAC that is under .08%.
n No person may operate an ATV/UTV with any detectable amount of a restricted controlled substance in their blood.
A concern was brought up that underage children are driving ATVs or UTVs to school. The regulations handbook states, “All ATV safety certified operators age 12-15 must also be accompanied by an adult while operating on a designated ATV route except for operation for agricultural purposes with adult supervision.”
Council members believed there is at least one person who is driving to school without parental supervision and is under the age of 16. Council president Mason Rachu said he would talk to school resource officer Patrick Leichtnam about the suspicion and see if he can look into it.
Other business
n City administrator Josh Soyk updated an Abbotsford ordinance to match what the city had on file in terms of how many signatures you need to run for office. The new ordinance says that aldermanic candidates should not have more than 40 or less than 20 signatures on their nomination papers. Similarly, the mayor should not have less than 50 or more than 100 signatures. This change aligns Abbotsford’s ordinances with the state’s regulations.
n The council also matched up their ordinances with the amounts of money they are charging residents for certain fees. Among the major changes is the rental fee for a room in city hall. The rental fee ATV/UTV laws
Continued from page 1
used to be $25.00 per event with a cleanup deposit. Now, the ordinance more clearly states the room will be available for $100 for the full room, $50 for half of the room and $35 for one-third of the room. The cleaning deposit will be a $400 cash-only payment.
â– The council decided to decline a proposal by Clark County Planning and Zoning to conduct a CSM review of the city Soyk said the proposal might make more sense if Marathon County was offering the same opportunity but it is not. Keeping the Clark and Marathon county sides uniform would mean declining the proposal.
â– The city awarded a bid to CTW Corporation for the rehabilitation of five wells that will cost the city $77,265 with additional additives potentially totalling $143,935 for two additional wells.
â– The council approved the payment of the invoice from Meyer Buildings for the work they did on the new concession stand project.
POPCORN, ANYONE? - The new Red Arrow Park concession stand is taking shape after the Abbotsford Council approved paying Meyer Buildings for their work in framing the project.
STAFF PHOTO/NEAL HOGDEN
