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THE FREE PRESS Thursday, September 26, 2013
Opinion
Phone: 250-423-4666 Email: editor@thefreepress.ca
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Letters to the Editor District of Elkford response to L. Gerhardi This letter is in response to a letter to the Fernie Free Press, September 19, 2013 edition regarding Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) use within the District of Elkford. The District of Elkford, like all Municipalities in BC, makes regulations to address the community’s needs that are at times specific to particular situations. These regulations cannot be repugnant to Provincial and Federal laws. In other words, no municipality may make regulations exempting people from the requirements of a superior jurisdiction. The District of Elkford does not have a Bylaw stating that “motorized vehicles need not be registered, plated, insured, nor do you need to wear helmets.” The District of Elkford Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle Regulation Bylaw, No. 671, 2006 goes above the requirements of the provincial law and requires licensing and insurance. There are many more safety and regulatory features to this bylaw which can be found on our website at www.elkford.ca. The District of Elkford cannot regulate ORV use outside of its boundaries. The District does regulate riding within the boundaries, which is restricted to multi-use trails designated for the use of these vehicles. The bylaw specifically states that ORVs must be moved from road to trail in a direct fashion and be pushed rather than ridden. Generally users respect this requirement and those that willfully and dangerously ignore are subject to fines by the District or the RCMP. The District of Elkford has some innovative bylaw measures which address the issue of ORV use within the municipality, to which it focuses on safety of the public and riders before convenience. The District works with the Elkford ATV Club, the Elkford Trails group and the Elkford Snowmobile Association to address needs, and when warranted, will propose changes to the bylaw. The District of Elkford values the safety of its residents and visitors and always works towards allowing free and expansive access to our wild surroundings, while attempting to ensure the regulations meet the needs of users and non-users alike. District of Elkford
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ATV Usage I read the letter from L. Gerhardi regarding ATV usage in Elkford. I am not sure where L. Gerhardi lives or where they got their information but they are not alone in their beliefs and rightly so as there are no end of ATVs, dirt bikes and snowmobiles on the streets which causes a misconception that it is okay, perhaps even legal. It is not. I have gone to the District website as there is a grey area as to what is believed
Off-highway vehicles A response to MOTORIZED VEHICLE CONCERNS by L. Gerhardi, printed September 19, 2013 I am saddened that such a negative and damaging letter was written about our community without the writer first researching the facts. The facts as it pertains to ALL motorized vehicles within the town limits of Elkford are as follows: • All motorized vehicles operated within Elkford town limits MUST BE insured • All motorized vehicles operated within Elkford town limits MUST have a valid provincial and/or Elkford multi usage trail plate • All motorized vehicles operated within Elkford town limits MUST follow all provincial laws, which include use of helmets on vehicles that require them • All motorized vehicles operated
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and/or allowed, what is ignored and what is misunderstood. Rather than my copying and pasting the District Website, please go to www. elkford.ca/atv_trail_riding where you can then click on the links and bylaws. • Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle Bylaw Bylaw 671 District of Elkford • Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle Ticketing Bylaw 672 District of Elkford • Elkford Trails
within Elkford town limits must adhere to posted speed limits • Elkford has an extensive trail system, of both motorized (generally listed as “multi-use trails”) and non-motorized trails (pedestrian only) • All multi-use trails within Elkford town limits are clearly posted at MAX 20 km/hr. As for the statement “Form a group and start cleaning and grooming these trails/ roads”………Elkford has a very large and active ATV membership (around 100 members) and has been instrumental in many trail maintenance programs, bridge maintenance/reconstruction, trail/road clean-up and recently joined with Elk River Alliance (September 21, 2013) to do a river clean-up. Elkford also has an active Snowmobile Club (around 50 members) that also participates in trail and bridge maintenance but also grooms trails in the area, as well, safety has always been both clubs’ number one
That will hopefully shed some light on this rather than the he said/she said that everyone seems to run with. What I would really like to see is a response to L. Gerhardi from the District of Elkford as well as a separate response from the RCMP to see if they are on the same page. Merle Dyck Elkford BC
priority. The statement “these folks are left to run loose” cannot be farther from the truth, as with most small communities across Canada, Elkford has a very active and visible RCMP presence, anyone ignoring the laws will be apprehended. It is clear that L. Gerhardi has grouped all operators of “off highway vehicles” into one group, by this logic all people that drive a vehicle MUST drive and send/read text messages, drive while under the influence, drive without the use of seat belts, etc. Not all people that operate a vehicle break the law, and not all people that operate an off-road vehicle break the law, so don’t condemn all off-road operators for the actions of a few. Granger Bertrand Law abiding Elkford citizen
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