Providence OKs driving off-highway vehicles on city roads

By G. Christopher Terry

September 25, 2008 | PROVIDENCE -- An approving crowd was present as the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that will allow children as young as 8 to drive off-highway vehicles on nearly all the streets in Providence.

The council chamber was filled with proponents of the new ordinance, which allows children to drive gas-powered off-road vehicles on city streets, provided they have completed a training course, are under direct visual supervision of an adult, and are riding a machine which has been insured for liability. All of those present were ardently in favor of allowing the children to drive, and all left the council meeting after the law was approved by a 3-0 vote.

A protracted discussion preceded the vote, with Councilmen David Low and Dale Astle voicing some concerns.

Low wondered why the speed limit for OHVs had been raised from 20 to 25 mph, and was informed by Mayor Randy Simmons that a 20 mph vehicle on city streets could cause a dangerous traffic bottleneck.

Astle said he was worried about excessive noise from the OHVs. He pushed hard, and got, a provision compelling all OHV operators to insure the machines they plan on driving within the city.

"We're increasing the risk of accidents," Astle said. "My concern is we start having 16- and 17-year-olds riding around for hours."

The ordinance initially contained no mention of liability, because, said Guy Curtis, who drafted a similar document for Millville City, there is no regulation demanding liability insurance in the national forest where OHVs are operated most often, and the Millville ordinance mirrored that.

At one point Low said, "Everyone that is here is pushing this. There's another group, what would they say?" A woman in the back of the room shouted, "They should have come!"

Providence City Public Works Director Randy Eck voiced concern about the safety of allowing children to race powerful motor vehicles along city streets. Eck said that children driving snowmobiles, pulling their friends behind by a rope, on city streets, may not be entirely safe when combined with city employees doing snow removal. However, the council brushed these concerns aside, noting that for the OHV use to be legal, the young drivers must be under direct visual supervision from a licensed driver. The direct visual supervision clause, along with city noise ordinances already in place, was judged to be sufficient recourse for dealing with any nuisance OHV use by the council.

Also at the meeting, the council discussed the deficient concrete curb and gutter along Cottonwood Lane, brought to the council's attention by Eck. Eck said in the spring of 2007, he inspected concrete laid in Sept. 2006 and found it to be of unacceptable quality. Eck commissioned two independent tests of the concrete, which he showed the council numerous pictures of.

"What we're experiencing is delamination," Eck said. Three hundred sixty feet of curb and gutter are delaminating to varying degrees on the north side of Cottonwood Lane, 80 feet on the south.

After noting that both Logan and Hyde Park have experienced the same delamination problem with concrete from the same supplier, Eck presented the council with his idea to solve the problem, which he said is completely cosmetic and not structural, and which he said he has not heard a single complaint about.

"Pressure wash it, coat it and seal it," Eck said, with the parties (contractor, subcontractor, supplier) splitting the cost among themselves. Eck said that by cutting into the new road to completely replace the curb and gutter, they would cut the life of the new road in half.

"I suspect if you take the hard line you could find yourself in a lawsuit," Astle said.

Eck agreed, having already stated that the supplier blamed Providence city's wintertime salt application for the delamination. The council approved Eck's course of action.

In other business, the council approved with a 3-0 vote an ordinance vacating a portion of the south side of the 200 South right-of-way, beginning at 300 East and extending east 198 feet approximately 51.41 foot wide, and repealing Ordinance No. 006-2008.

Another 3-0 aye vote approved a resolution clarifying the council's position regarding a 1994 pledge to support fundraising efforts for the Mountain Crest Pool.

Councilwoman Kathy Baker, Astle, and Low all voiced concerns about a resolution approving the Cooperative Corridor Agreement for State Road 165. By a 3-0 vote, the council determined that the matter would be continued until the next meeting. Jeff Gilbert will be invited to that meeting to answer questions and explain why the Cooperative Corridor Agreement is a good thing.

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