WATERLOO — Black Hawk County won’t join others across the state allowing expanded use of off-road vehicles on county lands, saying the increase in registration fees wouldn’t outweigh the potential dangers and damage to county parks.
Catherine Nicholas, Black Hawk County engineer, met with other department heads, including Sheriff Tony Thompson, last month to discuss whether to allow all-terrain vehicles and utility terrain vehicles on county property in more ways than currently allowed under Iowa law for agricultural use.
Their conclusion? It doesn’t make sense for Iowa’s fifth-largest county.
“My main focus is increasing rural safety,” said Nicholas. “In my mind, ATVs, UTVs and rural road safety are not compatible.”
Nicholas and other department heads at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting noted their different perspectives on the issue.
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“We didn’t see, number one, a lot of public desire for this ordinance. Number two, we didn’t see a benefit, but rather a number of detriments to the county,” said Mike Treinen, assistant county attorney. He noted 40% to 50% of Iowa counties allowing expanded ATV usage have ordinances that are worded “haphazardly.”
Mike Hendrickson, executive director of county conservation, worried about vandalism to the 9,000 acres his department manages.
“Am I saying that everybody that’s going to drive through is going to tear through our forested areas and our prairies? No, I am not,” he said. “But it would be tough to find public hunting areas that don’t have a trail ripped through there, because this activity is going on already.”
ATVs are currently registered through the county for $17.75 per year, plus title and lien fees, which Hendrickson said would not cover the increased cost to repair trails.
Thompson said any new ordinance probably wouldn’t lead to increased enforcement from deputies, because it is difficult enough distinguishing whether ATV users are conducting legitimate agricultural business or just joyriding.
“I have ATVs. I go up riding in Wisconsin. I enjoy that. But there’s little benefit to Black Hawk County — we simply don’t have the infrastructure” in the form of ATV trails, Thompson said. “So really, we are down to: What is the purpose of us allowing these kinds of activities to occur?”
Supervisor Linda Laylin, who attended the meeting with department heads, said she checked with the county’s insurance provider who said there would be an extra charge to the county’s general liability insurance if an ordinance was passed.
Board chairman Dan Trelka, who asked department heads to look into the issue, noted the county does maintain the Riverview Recreation Area for off-road vehicles in Waterloo and that he also enjoys riding ATVs in other states.
“I wish the conclusion would have been different, but I appreciate the vetting process it went through, and I respect that,” he said.