The Felsenthal Town Council has decided to set regulations for four-wheeler and ATV use on city streets, but the question is how to enforce whatever new ordinance is passed.
Mayor Linda Newbury presented the town council with a working rough draft for an ordinance that would regulate the use of four-wheelers and other ATV on city streets at a meeting earlier this week.
“This is a very, very rough draft. I got this online from a gated community who wanted to permit the use of golf carts on their roads,” Newbury said. “This is just a starting point for us to decide what we want.”
One of the most important issue that the council wanted to address with the new ordinance would be young children driving on the city’s roads without supervision.
“Even in the years since (Alderman Jack Newbury) and I have lived here, the children are getting smaller and smaller and the four-wheelers get bigger and bigger,” Newbury said.
The town’s officials said they would like to see children under the age of 14, the age where a child can receive a learner’s permit, off of the roads or only driving when an adult is with them.
The age requirement would simply enforce the driving laws as well as encourage young drivers to be more aware of their surroundings, council members said.
“I almost ran over a child the other day,” said Alderman Ryan Eads, noting the young boy was driving a “four-wheeler too big for him.”
The council did express concerns on how they would enforce the new ordinance if it was passed. Several council members said they felt like it would be useless to pass an ordinance if there was no way to stick by it.
“We are in a unique situation. We have no county or state roads in the corporate limits of the town, so this is not an ordinance that is common place in other towns, but we do need something,” Newbury said.
One solution was to see if there was any way to pay for a couple of shifts per month for an off-duty patrolman from around the area or offer to pay a shift or two for Huttig’s police officer to spend some time in the area.
Newbury said she would look into both possibilities in the next month, when the issue is expected to return to the council.
Haley Smith can be contacted at 870-862-6611 or at [email protected]. Follow Facebook and Twitter at @hsmithEDNT.