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After several weeks of negative press,
run-ins with police and a number of damaged front lawns, the Tupper
Lake Snowmobile Club wants to heal the wounds that have continued to
fester and grow between the organization and local government.
While addressing the Tupper Lake
Village Board of Trustees Tuesday night, club president Gary
Beaudette said that a few rotten eggs are giving a lot of Tupper
Lake Snowmobilers a bad name.
Beaudette said the club shares the
village’s concern and is watching for the offenders.
“There are a lot of riders in Tupper
Lake that should join the club. Being the administrator, I do
registrations; I know who belongs to club. I know everybody who
belongs, that’s my job,” Beaudette said.
The board has been riddled with
complaints of late from property owners, who say snowmobiles
continuously ride across their lawns without permission, tearing up
grass and blowing snow over freshly plowed driveways and sidewalks.
And Trustee Martin Hughes understands
the frustration of the disgruntled property owners.
“My sidewalk and front lawn is their
spin-out and turnaround place,” Hughes said. “If you drive to
Stewarts in a car, you don’t drive across someone’s lawn. What gives
you the right to do it on a snowmobile?”
The tension between local officials
and snowmobilers has escalated for weeks, leaving local and state
law enforcement stuck in the middle.
Village law bars snowmobilers from
riding on municipal roads. But Mayor Mickey Desmarais says the law
has traditionally been ignored for the economic and cultural
benefits the activity affords.
“We know it’s illegal to drive
snowmobiles on the roads, but we turn the other way and like Gary
said, it’s a privilege,” Desmarais. “We allow them to use any street
and we don’t mind as long as you use a little bit of etiquette and
common sense.”
Desmarais and several trustees said
the village continues to support responsible snowmobile use on
municipal roads, which allow access to the often-isolated local
trail networks.
But officials say the common scene of
a snowmobile racing through the streets at speeds more than twice
the legal limit is unacceptable.
Officials said that the village is
currently pursuing several easements on private lands that would
effectively connect many of the trails to local hotels, especially
on Park Street and hopefully lessen the impact on residents’ front
yards.
Trustees blasted recent media reports
that said they planned on cracking down on snowmobilers riding on
public roads.
“We said we would work with the
snowmobile clubs, not ban them,” Trustee Tom Snyder said.
Tupper Lake Village Police Chief Tom
Fee said that his officers would be willing to begin a safety
training program with area school children in an effort to instill
not only proper operating procedures, but also respect for private
property.
Beaudette said that the organization
would help support the effort.
-Jon
Alexander, 2-18-10
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