City Council mulls riding rules
By Jerry W. Kram
The Parshall City Council wants to crack down on riders who run four wheelers through town, but not quite yet.
The council tabled an ordinance that would have set strict limits on the operation of what are known officially as "off highway vehicles" within the city limits of Parshall. The ordinance defined OHVs to include motorcycles, three and four wheelers and snowmobiles. It would have banned the vehicles from city streets, trails and parks and prohibited them from being operated after the city curfew. It would also have required operators to have a permit and head protection.
The council members agreed that the privilege of using OHVs was being abused in Parshall, especially by a few who raced around the streets of Parshall in the middle of the night. Council Member Robert Morenski said that he could point out areas, especially on Fourth Street where skid marks showed people just spinning in circles. Mayor Kyle Christianson and Auditor Kelly Woessner both said they had watch people operating four wheelers on Main Street in an unsafe manner.
Still, there was a consensus on the council that they didn’t want to penalize people who used the vehicles responsibly. Tom Huus said his kids used their four wheeler to move equipment around for their lawn mowing business. Shane Hart wondered how kids could get to places where they could ride their four wheelers legally without having to have their parents put the vehicle on at trailer and drive it out to the country.
