HARMONY, Maine — Plenty of pros and cons were weighed as residents of this small Somerset County town gathered at the local community center Thursday evening to discuss all-terrain vehicle access to a trail in the southern half of town.
Town officials have allowed ATV riders to use the road, part of which is pavement and part of which is dirt, to navigate between trails.
According to Selectman Jesse Patterson, a number of residents at a recent meeting weren’t too pleased with the way the access to the trail was approved in August 2010.
“Our last meeting two weeks ago, some residents brought in a petition they had some residents sign to bring this to our attention that people weren’t too happy with the way that all came about,” Patterson said after the nearly two-hour meeting. “The reason people were upset was because they were not asked.”
But Patterson said he was happy that the townspeople and members of local ATV clubs voiced their opinions.
“I think in March we’ll hear them again,” he said. “That’s the way it should be.”
Harmony resident Keith Magoon had a lot to say, particularly since the access trail runs
along his 680-acre property.
“I don’t think we need them, plain and simple,” he said. “I don’t feel that with the laws the way they are at the present time, not requiring any insuring, not requiring any licensing of the ATV operators, I do not feel that they should be on public roads.”
Maine state law doesn’t require ATV operators to possess a driver’s license or motor vehicle insurance.
ATV drivers are allowed to stay to the far right along the access road, Patterson said, and the road is open to motor vehicle traffic.
“It hasn’t been an issue, that’s why we didn’t come to people to ask,” said Patterson.
Magoon said that ATVs generally don’t use the road in the latter hours of the night, when most of the town is asleep.
“[It’s] more on the weekends than anything else,” said Magoon, who owns an ATV but said he only uses it for work around his family-owned farm.
After listening to residents, Patterson said he believed the town’s selectmen should have gotten the public’s opinion on the access road before the measure passed.
“We should’ve asked, plain and simple,” he said.
There are signs along the access road that direct the ATVs to stay to the right-hand side, according to Patterson.
Magoon said the selectmen were just doing their jobs.
“I believe that the selectmen followed the laws….all the rules, set up by the state,” Magoon said. “As long as they are following the rules that they did not exceed their authority, I am not going to condemn the selectmen in any way. They followed all the rules, that’s what they were elected to do.”
Many Harmony residents that do ride are members of clubs in Wellington, Hartland and Pittsfield.
