Marathon ATV/UTV ordinance will return to board in December
Andy Kurtz, village of Marathon administrator, will present the village board with a third and likely final revision of the village’s new ATV/UTV ordinance for a vote of approval at its next meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
The third revision of the village’s ATV/UTV ordinance states all village streets will be accessible to ATV/UTV use except for Main Street, which is STH 107. Homeowners on STH 107 who are landlocked are able to cross the state highway to access other streets open to ATVs/UTVs.
Kurtz’s second revision of the village ATV/UTV ordinance he unveiled at last Wednesday’s meeting also had 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th streets closed to UTVs/ATVs, until village board members Keith Paul and Kevin Sorenson objected. Paul and Sorenson felt all village streets except for Main Street, or STH 107, should be open to ATV/UTV use unless there are problems in the future.
The village utilized technology in October to count the number of vehicles traveling on streets near Marathon Cheese and Marathon High School. For example, the village discovered 1,100 vehicles drove on 2nd Street in one day. The village found 1,600 vehicles drove on 4th Street in one day. Kurtz said Marathon County doesn’t open roads that have more than 1,500 vehicles driving on it in a single day, therefore 4th Street would be the only street in question. That didn’t matter to Paul, Sorenson and the rest of the village board members.
Village board members asked Jeff Rachu, who has attended Marathon Village Board meetings to advocate for opening the streets except STH 107 to ATV/UTV use, to be a leader in ensuring people driving ATVs/ UTVs on Marathon’s streets would be responsible with their new privilege. They want Rachu to look into forming an ATV/UTV club in Marathon.
Kurtz is in the process of finding out from the village of Marathon’s attorney, Shane Vanderwaal, whether Marathon Police Department can enforce proper ATV/UTV use on South Road and CTH B that border the town of Marathon and would possibly be under the Marathon County Sheriffs Department’s jurisdiction.
