SNOWMOBILES OUTLAWED
IN VICTORIA'S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
Council voted 3-0 on November 8^th to prohibit the operation of snowmobiles in the Central Business District of Victoria.  Stated Administrator Steve Sarvi, "Our major concern is damage to the downtown infrastructure."  The city has expensive new streets, sidewalks, and pavers.

Stated Officer Dewitt Meier, "Erick [Town Cop Boder] and I did some com-munication early on this.  We're looking at this as a two-pronged approach - education, so people can't say they didn't know, and enforcement.  We have two sleds set up for patrol."
"One problem," he said, "is that calls for service usually run Friday night, Sat-urday night, and Sunday night in Carver County so we can't guarantee our sleds will be on your trails full time."
"Last year you gave us 12 hours of overtime, which we appreciated," said Officer Meier.  "Maybe we can hit you guys up for 24 hours this year.  You've allowed us to do some creative schedul-ing.  That's the only real request we have."
He said that only 200 hours for snow-mobile patrol have been budgeted for the entire county for the whole year.
Resident Peter Bren spoke against the snowmobile ban.  "What was the cause that inspired the Council to consider this in the first place?  Why do snowmobiles get such special attention?  I bet there are more dogs in my neighborhood than people who register dogs.  Our ordinances should all be enforced equally ... Some people won't be considered criminal until this ordinance is in place ... That's been a snowmobile trail [the LRT along Stieger Lake Lane] for 30 years.  It's a very popu-lar trail.  I could go on and on."
Councilmember Tim Amundsen re-plied, "Mike Wartman in the Victoria Gazette often reminisces about the way things used to be in Victoria.  Would it bother you to have hunters in your neigh-borhood?  Our ordinances, in a lot of ways, are complaint based.  Circumstan-ces have changed.  Population shifts have changed.  Snowmobiles are not outlawed in the entire City of Victoria."
Tim added, however, "I too have asked for an alternate route and have seen nothing.  It's extremely important for people to be able to snowmobile in various areas of Victoria, just not in the central business district."
Councilmember Kim Roden said to Mr. Bren.  "I think we understand your position.  We're not here to get into a debate tonight.  There are others who may want to address the Council.  We'll do our best to understand your major issues.  We may not be able to answer every single question.  Our purpose is to listen and then deliberate."
Resident Randy Miller spoke in favor of the ban.  "I and 42 other homeowners on Stieger Lake support the Council on this ordinance."
Resident Vicky Elliot said, "I can speak for almost all of these people here tonight.  We ask the city council to vote yes on this ordinance.  The time for snow-mobiles on our streets is over."
Added Councilmember Roden, "I've been on the council three years and every single year we've discussed snowmobil-ing.  The Park no longer allows snow-mobiles on the LRT Trail.  Probably the day will come when we don't allow snow-mobiling anywhere in Victoria.  That day isn't here yet ...
"As we've grown and developed our downtown district, it's a damage issue.  Certainly we don't want to be careless with things paid for by taxpayer dollars.  We've been responsive with a number of issues including speed and noise.  This council has attempted to be proactive, responsible, and, frankly, fair.  I don't feel there's an option other than to move for-ward on this."
Stated Councilmember Richard Tied-en, "I agree with Councilmember Roden.  Every year there have been complaints and damages.  We can't afford this.  How can we not protect our downtown?"
Richard added, "Three Rivers Park District forced this issue.  When they closed the LRT to snowmobiling, they forced snowmobilers to use our Central Business District.  This was caused by other jurisdictions."
About the large number of people in the audience against snowmobiling, Councilmember Roden stated, "The world is run by those who show up.  I'm prepared to move forward tonight."
Countered Councilmember Amund-sen, "Government is for more than just the people who show up.  It's a representative government."  Although Tim would have preferred full council voting on the issue [Mayor Thun and Jim Paulsen were absent], he recognized the impact on Victoria's infrastructure and stated, "It's likely that our five-member body would restrict this."

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