ATV use near arena has county officials nervous

Forrest County has been lucky.

Underage kids using the grounds of the Forrest County Multi Purpose Center as an unauthorized all-terrain vehicle track have yet to cause any serious harm to themselves or others, officials said.

And to make sure that continues the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, along with officials from the Multi Purpose Center and the sheriff's department, are working on a draft of new policies and procedures that will maintain safety and better protect the county from liability issues.

Marshall's comment comes several weeks after Sheriff Billy McGee expressed his concerns that something be done to address the issue during a board meeting.

"My concern is a kid is either going to run over an adult or run into a car and flip over and hurt themselves," McGee said. "If they want to do that on their own property that's fine."

McGee said deputies have little to no authority to deal with the problem because the grounds of the facility aren't county roads.

"We could tell them to stop, but they don't have to," he said. "(We) don't have the authority to write tickets except on county roads and state highways."

The suggestion of prohibiting the recreational vehicles was discussed by the board, but that idea was brushed under the table when Derrick Ivy, executive director of the Multi Purpose Center, said patrons threatened to boycott events if that happened.

The facility pumps about $300,000 into the county's general funds each year, Marshall said.

"We don't want to run any revenues away and we don't want anybody hurt," Marshall said. "But the kids are coming in for events with their parents, (and) the parents are trying to lay back, relax and enjoy themselves and they tell the kids to just go ride the bikes."

Ivy added some people use the ATVs for practical purposes like hauling animal feed from their RV sites to the horse stalls.

"Most of the people who attend those events bring them for the right reason," he said. "It's just a small number of them that's not cooperating.

"Once the extensive signage is up and this new policy comes into play... we won't have any concerns about those vehicles again."

Last week, Ivy submitted a draft of the new policy regarding ATV use on the grounds to the board.

Marshall said the board made some revisions and asked Ivy to resubmit the document at its next meeting.

"We're just trying to protect the taxpayers' money from any liability suit," Marshall said. "We want to adopt a policy the sheriff can live with and people can live with."

Source: http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090208/NEWS01/902080305/1002

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites