6.1. SR 02-11-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memo to Mayor and Council/Snowmobile Trail Map February 11, 2002 Page 2 Jackson Avenue to 197th Avenue. This link is not possible without permission from either the Railroad or Mr. Babinski (owner of the abandoned home on the east side of Proctor), neither has given permission to allow snowmobiles on their property. By the end of the meeting, the Task Force agreed to submit the following to the City Council for consideration: Remove the Waco Street/Mississippi Road/Joplin Street loop. Remove the 193rd Avenue link, thereby removing the Highland Street segment. Establish a moratorium prohibiting snowmobiling south of County Road 33 except on the noted trail segments on the amended map, on property you own, and on property for which you have written permission in your possession to ride. While the Statute allows riding in the ditches of State and County roads, the same Statute allows cities to enact and enforce stricter rules. County Road 33 was chosen as it is a clearly definable and locatable item in the landscape. Require riders to trailer their sleds to the noted trailheads in order to access the trails. Adopt the amended map. On February 7, 2002, staff received the attached e-mail from the River City Snow Riders regarding the above recommendation. They oppose items #2 and #3 above. They would like to limit the use of 193rd Avenue to specific times, and feel that there has not been enough snow nor enough time to enforce the recently adopted ordinance. They are in agreement with #1 above, but would like to leave the Joplin Street segment, with signage to the north only; this would allow access from the neighborhood to Highway 10. Recommendation The current ordinance language was to have clearly delineated where snowmobiles could travel within the City limits (on trails and within the curb line of City streets). While there has not been much snow this year, the behavior of a few leads staff to believe that an even stricter ordinance is required. In order to protect the safety of residents and snowmobilers, staff recommends the following: Immediate closure of the trail segments on Mississippi Road and 193ra Avenue. As a result of this, snowmobile traffic cannot travel further east on Highway 10 than Lake Orono. They will also be limited to the Highway 169 corridor. Staff has amended the map with the recommended trail corridors and trail heads on them. Implementation of a moratorium on snowmobiling south of County Road 33 except on property you own or property for which you have written permission. The moratorium will allow staff time to rewrite the ordinance to severely limit the use of snowmobiles within the urbanized part of the City. The above actions will move most snowmobiling activity to Big Lake Township, County Road 33 and north, and to Burns Township. S:\PLANNING\MICHMC\PARKNREC\Snowmobiling\2-1 lccMemo.doc