Eastport residents shocked by council vote on ATVs

A surprise Eastport City Council vote on allowing off-road vehicles on some local roads has angered residents, but council members say it will be some time before the issue is settled .

The topic of allowing ATVs on local roads was not on the agenda at last week’s council meeting, but council voted 3-2 Thursday in favor of a proposal to allow Mountain biking on local roads in the town’s bowhunting district. The vote does not approve the use of ATVs in downtown Eastport or on nearby residential streets, located outside of this district.

Earl Small, who previously served on the city council and was appointed last month to temporarily fill a vacancy on the board, said Thursday’s vote was just the start of a process. Small, who supported the measure, said his goal is to develop a plan for how ATVs can be used in Eastport that will eventually be put to voters in a referendum.

Councilors Colleen Dana-Cummings and David Morang joined Small in supporting the proposal. Billy Boone, the board president, and Jeanne Peacock voted against.

Small said he knows people were caught off guard by Thursday’s vote, but he added there is a lot of misinformation in Eastport about what the vote means. He said the city will have to develop a plan and the state will have to approve it before ATVs can be used on Route 190, which is a state highway and the only way to get in and out of Eastport otherwise only by boat.

“I’m trying to calm everyone down,” Small said. “It’s not a matter of tomorrow.”

Several people sent information about the vote to the Bangor Daily News on Friday, but when asked if they were comfortable with being quoted, none responded or were willing to give it back. audience.

The fact that the issue and vote were not placed on the council’s agenda is not a violation of state law, according to Kate Dufour, lobbyist for the Maine Municipal Association. The only thing required is advance notice of public meetings, she said.

But the group that advocates for Maine cities and towns recommends that city councils use agendas when conducting meetings. Agendas allow officials and members of the public to be better prepared for meetings and help ensure business is conducted in a fair and orderly manner, Dufour said.

Boone said the ATV issue has been widely debated in recent years and has gained council attention again in recent months, before Small was appointed to fill a vacancy created when former councilor Floyd Andrews resigned of the board of directors in May. In a similar vote in April, the council voted 5-0 against allowing ATVs on local roads, he said.

Thursday’s vote, he said, surprised him and others at the meeting.

“I know there are a lot of people upset,” Boone said. “I think there will be other things to follow.”

Boone said he expects citizens opposed to allowing ATVs on local roads will make an effort to push back against the proposal. But even if a majority of the council continues to support the idea, the city will need to develop more details on what type of ATV use is allowed, install road signs indicating where they can be used and adopt possible time restrictions before that anything happens. official.

“I would be shocked if this wasn’t challenged,” Boone said. “I don’t see this problem going away and disappearing.”

Boone and Small said they expected the issue to be discussed at length at the council’s next meeting on July 10.

Small said he thinks it will take six months to a year for the city and residents to develop a more formal plan and then decide whether to vote for or against it.

He said that as surprising as Thursday’s vote was to some people, the council’s 5-0 vote in April against the idea was just as surprising to others. The only way to resolve the issue is through a referendum, he said, not through repeated council votes that swing one way and then the other.

“Why let only five people vote? » » said Petit. “We need to have a plan and present that plan to the citizens of Eastport. »