Maine

I agree with James and Paula Hakala about noisy ATVs (Sun Journal, Feb. 2). They have a right to enjoy their home and neighborhood in peace and quiet. In fact, we all do.

The burden should be on the ATV riders to quiet down. If they can't or won't ride quietly, they should be banned from using public roads.

Tony Reaves

What began last August as a vote to allow an ATV club access to several tote roads has become a personal issue to people on both sides of the debate.

On Feb. 14 at the Board of Selectmen meeting, it will come up again.

Tony Reaves

Paula Hakala said she's “thrilled” with the Board of Selectmen's 3-2 decision to rescind permission for ATV riders to use Parsons Road. Access to East Oxford Road, which runs near the Hakalas' home, was also barred.

For Hakala, who said she first complained shortly after the ATVs began appearing on her road, it was a hard-won victory.

Tony Reaves

Selectmen voted Monday to rescind ATV access on Parsons and East Oxford roads.

Selectmen Jean Smart, Lloyd Herrick and Raymond Glover voted to rescind access to the road, which the board had granted in June 2010. Selectmen Kenneth West and Ted Kurtz voted to allow ATV riders to continue to use the roads.

Criminal charges are pending after a local man got into an accident Tuesday night while he was driving his ATV drunk on East Boston Road, according to authorities.

Nathan Lanphier, 29, whose driver’s license had been revoked, fell off his vehicle and suffered serious injuries, according to Sgt. Jacob Boyington of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department. Boyington said speed was a factor in the accident.

Eileen M. Adams

Selectmen plan to meet with the Byron board at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 28 to discuss a possible contract to provide fire coverage for Byron. The meeting will be held at the Mexico town hall.

Byron voted to dissolve its department last week. Byron Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds plans to meet with Mexico fire Chief Gary Wentzell to inventory all fire-related equipment owned by Byron. The most significant of Byron's fire equipment is a new engine funded by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005.

M. Dirk Langeveld

PARIS — Rerouting trails and increasing enforcement were floated as possible solutions Thursday at a hearing to address concerns over ATV use of a public road.

At a June meeting, the Board of Selectmen authorized the use of sections of Parsons Road, Brett Hill Road and Elm Hill Road for use by ATVs. Under state law, ATVs are prohibited from using public roads unless approved by municipal officers. In those cases, the vehicles must keep to the extreme right and obey a speed limit of 10 miles per hour.

M. Dirk Langeveld

PARIS — The use of ATVs on a public road, as well as the issue of notification of the road's residents, led to a lengthy discussion Monday at the Board of Selectmen's meeting.

James and Paula Hakala, of 17 Parsons Road, asked to appear on the agenda to discuss the issue. James said he was concerned that the selectmen authorized the use of the road by ATVs as a way to connect to different trails. According to state law, ATVs cannot operate on public ways unless municipal officials approve a road as an ATV-accessible route. In those cases, the town must ensure that the ATVs will not interfere with traffic or operate in an unsafe manner, and riders must keep to the extreme right of the road. Several signs along Parsons Road set the speed limit at 10 miles per hour.

POLAND — A pair of vandals on four-wheelers left a swath of destruction in Poland early Tuesday and police spent the rest of the day searching for clues.

Androscoggin County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Nichols said overnight and into the morning, the culprits tore up property and plowed through mailboxes in the area of Empire, Hardscrabble and Plains roads.