Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By ZACHARY MARANO
MERCER, Wis. — The town of Mercer board of supervisors discussed the recent use of the town’s bike path by snowmobiles at its regular meeting on Thursday.
Mercer Area Sno-goers snowmobile club president Hank Joustra explained that two landowners revoked their permissions to use their snowmobile trails, so they had to bypass those properties. He said the Sno-goers are doing this by using about 75 yards of a bike trail within a 40-foot right-of-way on U.S. 51. Joustra said that this use in vicinity of highways is allowed under Wisconsin statute 350.2.
“Essentially, what we’re doing is sharing the right-of-way; we’re not using the bike trail. Like I said, we may be coming really close to the bike trails where we come out of Manitowish Waters Access Road,” Joustra said.
Joustra added that the Sno-goers gave up their previous trail to create an easier-to-maintain trail system for the town and they built a new snow base on top of Lakeshore Drive, an asphalt road. He promised that they “will run that trail until spring without one stud, one carbide touching that asphalt.” He said they are packing down the snow on this part of the trail to prevent damage.
Joustra also said that he is not looking to push bicycles off the trail and is just as supportive of silent sports as motorized sports.
Board Chairman John Sendra said the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources contributed grant money for the non-motorized bike trail, so there is a possibility that the town will lose grant money if they allow snowmobiles. However, he said that will probably receive approval from the Department of Natural Resources to allow them to use the trail temporarily. Legal counsel Fritz Schellgell said they should show their due diligence by meeting to come up with more ideas to mitigate damages from snowmobiles using the bike trail.
The board approved a conditional use permit for a multi-family dwelling in a RR-1 district on Klein Road. Planning commission chairperson Kathy Tutt said that the owner has been renting the three-bedroom home to the same person for years as a long-term rental. She said that he submitted an application to the planning commission and because they are in compliance with their ordinance, they recommended approval.
Schellgell said he has seen comments from other people who live on Klein Road saying that the owner of the multi-family dwelling is violating the covenants of the subdivision. He said that the town does not enforce covenants. He said that if they believe that the person is violating the covenants, they can assert their rights by hiring a private attorney to take legal action, but this would not involve the town.
Town supervisor Vic Ouimette said that when so many neighbors are opposed to this, the board should do something that takes into consideration the public concern. Schellgell said that because they placed the item on the agenda, their discussion qualifies as a public hearing.
Sendra said the town is having problems with “the usual four offenders” who don’t shovel the snow in front of their businesses every year. He said that this is a safety hazard and according to their sidewalk ordinance, if people don’t shovel the sidewalks, the road crew will shovel them and the cost as determined by the road crew foreman will be added to their tax bills. He informed the board that letters are already going out to these people.
The board also:
—Added a 30-day provisional liquor licenses for when businesses change hands, so the new owner will pay their fees.
—Approved a rezoning request from A-1 to RR-1 for two lots on Mercer Lake Circle.
—Approved a Tourist Rooming House permit on Tutts Road.
