Minutes - Council - 01/24/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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accompanied the officer. Chief Auspos felt that it would as there should always be two snowmobiles. They could accompany an officer in the event of a breakdown. Councilmember Peterson inquired if Chief Auspos had checked with the City of Champlin to see how their program is working to which Chief Auspos replied that he had not checked, nor is he familiar with their program. Mr. Schroedcr commented that $1,000 will get about 30 hours of patrol. A member of the local snowmobile club stated that they have volunteered to fide along with the officers. He stated that this situation will not get any better unless the ordinance gets enforced. He suggested taking down license numbers and added that parents have to be made aware of these issues. Mr. Schroeder stated that the City Attorney will check into liability relating to this issue. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Hardin, Councilmembers Peterson, Zimmerman and Beahen. Voting No: None. Absent: CouncilmemberBeyer. Mikki Adams stated she lives in the northeast comer of the City of Ramsey. She inquired if there is not enough snow for the officers to patrol on a snowmobile, why are there snowmobilers out. She sympathized with Mr. Al Pearson over losing $6,000 on his crops due to snowmobile damage. She expressed sadness at the snowmobilers blatant disrespect for someone else's property. She informed Council of the damage that's done to her driveway every year due to snowmobilers. She stated that a lot of the snowmobilers are kids, and these types of kids are not going to come in for snowmobile training. She reiterated if there is enough snow for snowmobiles, there should be enough snow for snowmobile patrol. Doug Fountain, 15255 Garnet Street N.w., Ramsey, stated that the same question occurred to him about the amount of snow. He stated that with the minute dusting of snow we had recently, there were a couple of snowmobiles between 151st and 152nd skidding and sliding all over the roadway. He stated that he read Couneilmember Peterson's comment in the Union and stated he is not in favor of banning snowmobiling in Ramsey either, however, something has to be done. He informed Council of a time when he caught a couple of kids snowmobiling in his back yard but that he let them go. He felt that it would have been better ff he had called the Police instead. With regard to the classes these kids attend, he felt they probably "forget everything they learned within an hour and a half". The crux of the problem is lack of enforcement. Upon request, Chief Auspos summarized the areas in which it is okay to drive snowmobiles. Ms. Adams stated that she understood that boulevards are public fight-of-ways; however, no one comes out to repair the damage to the boulevards that the snowmobilers mate. She again mentioned the $6,000 worth of damage to Mr. Pearson's crops. She stated that the only area they are concerned about is where they have seeded lawn. She felt it shouldn't be necessary to redo that every spring as it gets expensive. Ms. Adams agreed that the boulevards are public property, but questioned if people should be allowed to spoil it. Chief Auspos stated that the snowmobiling on Mr. Pearson's property is pure and simple trespassing. Mr. Pearson stated he is fed up with the snowmobiling damage and added that this has been a discussion on the Council for years. He felt it's time to "take the bull by the horns" and say no to snowmobiling. He stated if he wants to play with his farm tractor, he has to play on his own property. He suggested f'ming people for trespassing and reporting it on the front page of the newspaper. City Council/January 24, 1995 Page 9 of 15