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View Full Version : upcoming DNR meeting, Bills, and public hearings



mazzola
September 16th, 2004, 04:14 PM
Imagine, if you will, being able to travel from you cabin or campsite, along a County road to get to the designated trail system or from one trail to the other that are not currently interconnected, with your unlicensed (non street licensed) ORV, not to mention the future ability to access communities for fuel and food and mayhaps drive from a local motel to the trail system. Currently every Upper Peninsula County, with the exception of Mackinaw Co. (being worked on currently) has opened either all or part of or selected county roads to such travel. This along with the Forest roads being open ther has created a vast ORV transportation system. And it is working. Long range plans call for a continuation of this endeavor to include all Lower Peninsula Counties that currently have ORV trails. It is a monumental project and will need to be done one county at a time. This will be one more step in the process to reopen the forest roads to no street licensed travel.

Read on.

Ogemaw county is on the verge of approving an ordinance that will
allow ORV use on county roads. We need people at this meeting to
support the ordinance by at least 2 to 1 because of what happened in
Oscoda County when they recently had a public meeting regarding this
same issue (some local opposition).
Please make an effort to attend this meeting and be prepared to make
a brief statement because they keep track of positive and negative
comments from the audience. Presenting something as simple as "I
support this ordinance" will suffice. If you want to elaborate,
that's great.

The Cycle Conservation Club of Michigan supports this ordinance and
looks forward to other counties implementing similar legislation to
better our sport. Ogemaw county, if this passes, will join
Montmorency, Presque Isle and Cheboygan counties who have similar
laws already in effect. Dr Kendall Paulson from Rose City has formed the
Ogemaw County ORV Economic Development Committee to drive this
ordinance and Ron Sape, one of our members from Rose City has acted
as our laision during the meetings to date. This ordinance has County and
police support now we need to add the ORV community support.

The meeting is at the West Branch courthouse September 22nd at 6:30
p.m. It is a big grey building on the corner of M-55 and M-30
officially called the Ogemaw County Building. From the south take
exit 212 off I-75, turn right go approximately 3 miles through town,
the building is on the left. The meeting is in the commissioners
chambers on the 1st floor.

If you can't make the meeting, you can email the county clerk with
your supportive comments for the ordinance. Send emails to
ogemawcoclerk@m33access.com (subject: ORV ordinance)

Here's a copy of the ordinance as it currently stands:

State of Michigan - County of Ogemaw
ORV Ordinance

An ordinance for the regulation of operation of ORV's in Ogemaw
County on roadways.

Sec. 1. As used in this ordinance, the following definitions shall apply:

a) "Public Road" means that portion of a county road that is
improved, maintained and used by the public for vehicular travel,
including any improved shoulders.
B) "Operate" means to rid in or on, and be in actual physical
control of the operation of an ORV.
c) An ORV is defined as a motor vehicle with forward movement made
possible by the use of two, three, four or six wheels with surface
contact made by rubber tires. The vehicle must have a measurement
from the ground surface to the base of seat height greater than
eight-teen inches. On three, four or six wheeled vehicles the wheel
rim diameter may not exceed thirteen inches.
d) "Road Surface" means that portion of a roadway improved,
designated, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel and does not
include within its meaning the shoulder or right-of way.

Sec. 2 An ORV may not be operated on the road surface of any
roadway, with the exception of sections of roadways that do not have
an adequate shoulder of roadway or bridge crossing allowing the ORV
to avoid contact with the road surface. In these cases the ORV must
remain to the far right of the roadway contacting the least amount of
road surface as possible.

Sec. 3 An ORV may be operated on the roadway surface of any roadway
for the purpose of crossing the roadway. The operator must bring the
ORV to a complete stop and cross at a right angle to the roadway.

Sec 4 An Orv may not be operated on the road surface, roadway,
shoulder or right-of-way of highways M-55 or M-33 except:
a) In a life-threatening emergency.
B) For the purpose of getting from one area to another, and operator
may cross such roadway at right angles. The operator shall bring the
ORV to a complete stop prior to crossing a roadway and shall yield
the right-of-way to incoming traffic.

Sec. 5 An Orv may be operated on the shoulder of the roadway, in the
direction of traffic in a single file manner, of all public roadways
in Ogemaw County with the exception of roadways prohibited by sec. 4.

Sec. 6 An ORV may not be operated on a public roadway at a rate of
speed higher than a posted or greater that 30 mph.

Sec. 7 An ORV must yield to all pedestrian and automobile vehicular traffic.

Sec. 8 An ORV must operate outside and not within the city limits of
West Branch and Rose City unless designated routes are established by
a city ordinance.

Sec. 9 An ORV may not be operated on a public roadway between the
hours of 11:00 pm and 6:00 am.

Sec. 10 An ORV wit a width greater than 50 inches, must have a
orange or red flag on a pole that measures at least six feet height
and properly secured to the rear left hand side.

Sec. 11 Any person who violates this ordinance is guilty of a civil
infraction, punishable by a fine of $60.00 upon the first conviction
and a $100.00 for any subsequent conviction.

Sec. 12 Any person convicted of causing destruction to the road
surface of the roadway or shoulder of the roadway will be held
responsible for full restitution to repair the roadway to its
original condition and will be guilty of a misdemeanor with an
additional fine of $250.00



More, More, More

The DNR is updating the ORV Plan and a study of the ORV program is being conducted by Dr Charles Nelson, (University of Michigan) to help determine future needs of the program. One component of the plan update and study is to gather information about the ORV Trail System. Three public meetings have been set to present general information about previous planning efforts and explain the process the Department is using to update the plan. The structure of the meetings will allow for public input into the planning process.

ORV PLAN PUBLIC INFORMATION AND INPUT MEETINGS:

October 12, 7:00p.m. Holiday Inn South, 6280 South Cedar St, Lansing.
Meeting info: Contact Kim Korbecki, 517-373-2891, korbeckk@michigan.gov

October 13, 7:00p.m. Holiday Inn ? Grayling,2650 Business Loop South I-75, Grayling.
Meeting info: Contact Kim Korbecki, 517-373-2891, korbeckk@michigan.gov

October 14, 7:00p.m. Ramada Inn, 412 West Washington Street, Marquette.
Meeting info: Contact Kim Korbecki, 517-373-2891, korbeckk@michigan.gov

For those who are unable to attend a meeting comments can be sent to:
Steve Kubisiak at KUBISIAS@michigan.gov


Senate Bill 1348

This bill, introduced by Senator Schauer, and has been referred to the Committee on Economic, Small Business, and Regulatory Reform.

The bill, designed to require licensing for motor racing tracks which may be known and or cited as the "motorcycle racing regulation act" was introduced on 9/8/04.

Our peliminary concerns are that it requires "until rules are promulagated" to define and stabndards for licensing and operation that the standards from the AMA and or another Nationally recoginized organization and that the Director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth can by rule amend / supplement any such standards. Who knows what we may end up with without the input of race track owners and operators.

"Person" as defined under the bill means an individual or legal entity. This description may very well lead to regulating private non-commercial riding places such as your back yard or private land holdings.

Some pretty stiff penalties are proposed up to and including 93 days and $500 or both for operating with out a license.

We are on this bill and will keep you posted.


Go to www.michiganlegislature.org and do a bill search for 1348. Leave off the SB.

yogi
September 16th, 2004, 05:30 PM
i will be at the lansing one oct.12 see you there :D




yogi

WhiteRhino
September 16th, 2004, 05:45 PM
I will try to make West Branch and Lansing.

grandman
September 16th, 2004, 06:14 PM
Ill be at the west branch meeting

One question Jim , are you saying this didnt get passed in Mio area ? just a couple weeks ago we watched quads come and go right in down town Mio !!!!

West branch will tend to buck this , st helen roscommon county should be an easy one to get , both st helen and city of roscomon welcome sleds , quads or any thing that brings money in .

mazzola
September 17th, 2004, 07:18 AM
Marv,
This ORV ordinance is just for Ogemaw County not Oscoda where Mio is at. The intention (i.e. hope) is that other counties will see this as an economic growth potential by allowing ORV's to travel on forest roads and subsequently the shoulders of county roads and thus bring more tourism. The intent for the public hearing on the Ogemaw ordinace is to get input from the dissenters. It in all probability has support from the County otherwise they would not be persuing the hearings.
This is also why the SB was refered to committee on economic growth and small business reform. Not that they will have the last say on it, in fact they most likely will not. If would most likely be referred to "Transportatin and Recreation". This first step is a mechanism to get support later. Can you say.....POLITICS!!!
The quads on the shoulder right now are just plain illegal. It's whether or not the DNR wishes to do anything about them. Again as you found...depends on who you ask will determine if it's legal or not.
In the quads defense, the snowmobiles are allowed to do that in the winter, the next logical rationale is why not quards and bikes in the summer. Chances are, like the judge in your trial might say...I ride my snowmobile in the winter I see no difference with a bike in the summer!
Time will tell. We must, like I said before, keep our presence at the forefront. Whether we think it affect us or not.
j

Creative Fab
September 18th, 2004, 07:32 AM
I will be in west branch and Grayling.

I have a cabin in Wolverine which is in Cheboygan county and has open road shoulder use for ORV's and I can tell you that it is wonderfull being able to drive from our cabin over to the Tomahawk trail without having to load up the truck and trailer.

Lets show our support for this, if us users stick together and help each other out you will see some good things happen in the future!

Pat Kinne
Pres. GLFWDA
1-888-705-8683

Nvrenuf
September 19th, 2004, 04:56 PM
I will be going to West Branch :D

WhiteRhino
September 20th, 2004, 09:46 AM
I just got called out of town this week. Can't make West Branch but will send email.
Sorry.

Roadhouse
September 20th, 2004, 05:09 PM
One question, what does this have to do with us full size users? I don't mean for that to sound negative....just asking.

grandman
September 20th, 2004, 09:27 PM
Mike it has to do with us in this manner , unity .

All land user must learn to assist each other , we assits quad and bike riders and make it known as best as we can , in return they should assits us on matters concerning full size matters .

Secondly any and all support of ORV use of any type shows where the interest is off the people of this state .

yogi
September 20th, 2004, 09:44 PM
i no that mio has mixed trail useage to the downtown off of trails to walkers and gas stations ive been on them.lezern also



yogi

brewmenn
September 21st, 2004, 12:57 PM
Originally posted by grandman@Sep 20 2004, 08:27 PM
All land user must learn to assist each other , we assits quad and bike riders and make it known as best as we can , in return they should assits us on matters concerning full size matters .

They should... but do they?

I know of several ORV trails that are wide enough to get a Jeep down but we're not supposed to be on because we're over 50" (or whatever the number is now) wide. Would they suppore an effort to allow us to use some these trails?

T-way
September 21st, 2004, 08:17 PM
Well, some of us are multiple-users!! I myself also own a quad (and snowmobiles), and I fully support this!!!!

And Marv is right....UNITY is a big factor! I'm not going to wait around to see if "they" will support us! Someone needs to make the first move, and it might as well be US!!

Nvrenuf
September 21st, 2004, 08:50 PM
:blink: Oh No !! Whats this coming to I have to agree with T-way. ;)

I think it benefits us if these communities and businesses realize what money is spent by any off road users.

On a side note I wonder what kind of financial impact the Tree Hugger/Enviro-Nazis have on these towns.

T-way
September 22nd, 2004, 12:32 AM
I can't make the meeting on Wednesday evening, but I've already sent my e-mail to the Ogemaw County Clerk clearly stating my SUPPORT of the ORV ordinance!!!

Let's hope that this gets passed!

Creative Fab
September 22nd, 2004, 09:49 AM
I you read a post of mine in the mj topic than you read what I said about not going to tonights ATV county road issue meeting in West Branch.

I am also a dual user and support the opening of the shoulders of county roads to ATV traffic. I had intended to go to tonights meeting and represent GL in the support of this effort. However after discussing this subject with Paul Mulder yesterday on our way home from antoher ORV meeting I changed my mind.


When I think of this type of travel I equate it to my experience in Wolverine where my cabin is. Paul opened my eyes to the diffrences between Wolverine and West Branch / St. Helen area. Ogemaw county has a much, much greater population of ATV users, especially on weekends. It is our opinion that this could lead to future issues with the iresponsilbe ATV rider having greater freedoms to give all ORV's an even bigger blackeye. I am sure we will have many more opportunities to lend the other user groups a hand with the GL name attached to it. We were givin that black eye already this week with a fullsize truck being found in the middle of Mud Lake in Ogemaw county.

I have sent an e-mail personally supporting the idea but I did not attach the GL name to it.

Share your thoughts!

Pat

T-way
September 22nd, 2004, 10:34 AM
I sent my e-mail, but did not attach my affiliation with Great Lakes. I only mentioned the fact that I used my quad EXTENSIVELY on the LEGAL trail system throughout northern Michigan!

SquattingDog
September 22nd, 2004, 10:39 AM
Originally posted by T-way@Sep 21 2004, 11:32 PM
I can't make the meeting on Wednesday evening, but I've already sent my e-mail to the Ogemaw County Clerk clearly stating my SUPPORT of the ORV ordinance!!!

Let's hope that this gets passed!
T-Way,
In your email, how did you reference this ordinance ? What is its official name ?

Since I cannot attend the meeting I would like to send a email as well.

-frank

brewmenn
September 22nd, 2004, 01:25 PM
One thing I'm wondering about is what side affect this might have on us as full size users. Doesn't allowing ATV's to ride all forest and county roads pretty much make most ORV routes obsolete since most of them are just roads that ATV's are allowed to use? Would this be a good or bad thing for us?

T-way
September 22nd, 2004, 03:32 PM
Ok, now I'm not sure what's going on here......in some threads I can post a reply, in others the forum won't let me use the feature!!!

Frank.....I just referenced the ORV ordinance regarding allowing ORVs to travel to shoulder of the county roads. And I mentioned that I was unable to attend the public meeting scheduled for Sept. 22nd. I'm sure that they can figure it out from there!!

Bruce....NO! The ORV routes run all over!! This ordinance would allow ORVs to travel along the shoulder of county roads to reach the trails, thereby eliminating the need to trailer your quad or bike directly to the trailhead. You could conceivable ride from your campground or motel to the trail, similar to what snowmobilers have been doing in many counties for YEARS. This is already legal for ORVs in some northern counties.

offroadracer99
October 10th, 2004, 04:25 PM
I would like to know if there is any updates on this issue. I just got rid of my Raptor not too long ago, but a couple of my buddies still ride quads. It would be nice if the could ride from trail to trail, where close, without having to load them back up. <_<