ATV club asks Brutus for land use to link trails

Kathleen Barran

WEEDSPORT - The All-County ATV Club appeared at the Town of Brutus board meeting Monday night for permission to clear land owned by the town to ultimately link their trail to Cato and the Oswego Club's county trail.

Jeff Mills, vice president of the club, said the club had already made agreements with Savannah, Clyde, Montezuma, Port Byron and Weedsport.

They are also using the River Forest Camp ground and would like to clear a swathe about six to eight feet wide along Towpath Road and then through an old railroad bed.

They can't ride on the canal bed and can't cross the old Erie Canal, so they came to the town to find out what the town could approve.

An area behind Arby's on Towpath Road is not owned by the town.

The goal is to get to Bonta Bridge, a steel decked bridge that they could ride over. They can't go up Route 34 because the state Department of Transportation owns the blacktop on that bridge.

“I have no problem working out an agreement on the opposite side of what we own,” James Hotaling, town supervisor said. “You need to check what the county owns.”

Bonta Bridge Road is a county road, he said, while Hall Road is a town road.

Club president Paul Goodrich explained the club tries to connect trail head to trail head rather than asking for too many roads. He also explained how the club's insurance worked and how signage and trails were maintained.

Four other club members attended as Goodrich indicated most of them were also members of his work crew that use a tractor to smooth out their trails and put gravel in.

He also stressed strict rules that club members have to follow.

“Our main concern is the landowner,” he said, noting that trails are marked and if members are caught off the trails, they get a warning first, but after a second complaint, they're out of the club.

Last year, a member was obnoxious to a landowner and was asked to apologize or leave, Goodrich said. He also cited an incident where someone who didn't belong to the club was harassing a landowner, who took a picture of his license. The landowner actually helped the club, who reported the person to the sheriff's office.

“Not only do club members patrol, but the landowners do, too,” Goodrich said.

The club wants to begin work on the trail as soon as possible once it's clear what the county's position will be. The town was willing to accommodate the club.

In other news:

• The town agreed to check with the state engineer in Syracuse to see why the road surface near the bridge on Route 31 at the end of Towpath Road is not being maintained in response to a resident's safety concerns.
• Town engineer Tom Piascik presented a revised shared building study of a proposed $4 million, 14,000 square foot joint municipal building for Brutus and Weedsport. A joint presentation will be scheduled with the architect and engineer after consulting the village.

--

Source: http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2010/02/09/local_news/news07.txt

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites