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UTV ordinance on agenda for third attempt at passage
Third time the charm?
Proverbially that might be the case but will it be true for the proposed UTV ordinance when the Greencastle City Council meets Thursday night at City Hall?
The 7 p.m. meeting is open to the public.
Second reading and adoption of Ordinance 2023-7, a measure allowing the use of certain recreational off-highway vehicles on the city streets of Greencastle, has twice been tabled by the Council.
The first time came at the December Council session, which was the final meeting for four lame-duck members, and then again in January when the new City Council and Mayor Lynda Dunbar took over for their debut meeting.
The UTV (utility task vehicle) ordinance was introduced at the November City Council meeting, passing 6-1 on first reading (former Councilman Russell Harvey was the lone dissenter) when several comments were made about continued use of the vehicles by DePauw University building and grounds employees at locations other than on campus.
After lengthy discussion at its December and January meetings, the Council voted to table the ordinance. Initially about a half-dozen UTV or side-by-side owners offered calm comment about the proposal before it became apparent the currently written ordinance was not likely to be the finished product. About a dozen UTV owners were on hand for the January session, while at neither meeting did anyone in the audience object to approval of the ordinance.
Specifically excluded by the ordinance for use on city streets are golf carts, ATVs, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and other slow-moving vehicles, all of which are not considered recreational off-highway vehicles and are not allowable by state statute.
Recreational off-highway vehicles, as defined by Indiana code, would be allowable under the ordinance upon adoption on second reading and the posting of proper signage around Greencastle. The necessity of signage at every street on which UTVs are allowed, as stipulated by state statute, has been an issue for city officials.
The Council is currently composed of Council President Stacie Langdon, Mark Hammer, Tina Nicholson, Katherine Asbell, David Masten and Darrel Thomas, all Republicans, along with Democrat Vince Aguirre, who cast the lone dissenting vote against tabling the UTV ordinance last month.
Another ordinance on the agenda Thursday night, Ordinance 2024-1, comes as a recommendation from the Board of Works to increase the rate of septage charges paid by septic waste haulers at the wastewater treatment plant from seven cents per gallon to 10 cents per gallon. City Attorney Laurie Hardwick has noted that there has not been an increase in septage charges since 2010.
Wastewater Supt. Oscar King Jr. said companies haul in septage after cleaning out port-a-lets as well as pumping out septic systems. Septage is also accepted from adjacent counties.
In addition to other items on the docket and reports from city department heads, a block of time is always reserved at the outset of the City Council meeting for items and concerns from the public not otherwise on the evening’s agenda.