Supervisors consider amending county ATV, UTV ordinance

Henry County supervisors are considering amending an ordinance to allow ATVs and UTVs on secondary roads.

In a conversation between Sheriff Rich McNamee, county recorder Mindy Fitzgibbon, county engineer Jake Hotchkiss and Brett Johnson, of Mt. Pleasant, supervisors discussed the pros and cons of amending the ordinance during a meeting on Thursday, March 28.

'I think from a Henry County standpoint, it's my recommendation to take a serious look and consider it,” McNamee said.

McNamee said he was asked when he took office about whether or not he thought revising the ATV and UTV ordinance was a good idea. At the time only Van Buren County had an ordinance that allowed ATVs and UTVs on secondary roads. Now, 'we're kind of the ones out here in the dark,” McNamee said.

Lee County passed an ATV ordinance allowing residents to ride them on secondary roads. Washington County and Des Moines County also have OK'd ATVs on secondary roads.

'The time has come for us to address it,” McNamee said. 'They ride them anyway. From a tourism standpoint, I think it's something we need to look into a little deeper. Go to northern Minnesota or Wisconsin, there's a huge tourism factor with ATVs we're missing out on.”

McNamee said he spoke with sheriffs in other counties after they passed their ordinances, and they said there haven't had any repercussions.

'We've had periodic issues with ATVs being out of control. There's still going to be those whether we pass an ordinance or not,” McNamee said, adding that all counties neighboring Henry County and close to half of the counties in Iowa have adopted an ordinance.

Currently, residents are allowed to ride ATVs if they are farmers working on their property. McNamee said their enforcement of that ordinance is simple.

'If I pull you over and you say you're going from farm to farm, I'll believe you. If we see you four miles over with a four-pack of beer and a bunch of friends, that's different,” McNamee said.

'If you have a hail bail and pliers and wire and say you're going to fix a fence, we might go as far as asking you to show us, and I'll believe you. It's a common-sense approach,” McNamee said.

Supervisor Gary See said they have dismissed previous efforts to revise Henry County's ordinance because the sheriff and county attorney weren't on board.

Hotchkiss said the ordinance was still a relatively new idea when it was brought up a couple years ago. Changes in the Iowa code have released some liability of the county were an ATV-related accident to occur.

'If there is an accident, we're protected from liability,” Hotchkiss said. 'From a safety standpoint, it would be hard for me to say it's a great idea to add them on the road. I'm not 100 percent. I wouldn't be jumping up and down to have it, but I would work with everyone to move in that direction.”

Hotchkiss said he is curious how many ATV and UTV permits are being issued in other counties with this ordinance.

'Is it 25 or 100?” he asked.

Fitzgibbon, county recorder, suggested the ordinance require a permit to be issued for all ATV and UTV drivers.

'A lot of county recorders are doing permits that would be renewed every year, and we would be willing to do those permits,” Fitzgibbon said.

Fitzgibbon said in Lee County's ordinance, the Recorder's Office is required to make sure drivers have adequate insurance on their ATVs and UTVs. She doesn't think that should be the responsibility of the Recorder's Office.

'That's putting a lot of the Recorder's Office,” she said, adding the Treasurer's Office doesn't need proof of insurance when residents register their vehicles.

In Washington County, ATV and UTV drivers must be at least 16-years-old and possess a valid driver's license. Fitzgibbon said there's a big difference between a 16-year-old driver and an 18-year-old driver.

'We need to make sure we adopt an ordinance that works for Henry County,” Fitzgibbon said.

Brett Johnson said a lot of the ordinances have a curfew of 10 p.m., but he's had discussions with Henry County residents who would wish for a little longer ride time.

'People who are going to ride these legally want a little different curfew in our county on weekends and holidays,” Johnson said, asking for a curfew of midnight.

'If we put a curfew, I don't want to set it up to fail. That gives them a little extra time to get off the roads,” Johnson said.