By CJCD Mix 100 News
Yellowknife, N.W.T. - All-terrain vehicles and quads are getting a bad reputation in Hay River these days, with Town Hall receiving more complaints about noise and people ripping up pedestrian paths.
Some are now calling for the town to reintroduce a by-law to regulate ATVs-town council had repealed the previous by-law and Deputy Mayor Mike Maher said there's a good reason for that.
"It's one of those things where if you're not enforcing a by-law, there's no point in having it on the books."
The town went a year without a municipal enforcement officer and now the current one wants to bring back the by-law on ATVs.
Maher said they're going to consult the public first.
"Instead of enacting that or doing that ... we sent that out for public input (to get)-pros and cons, because there's both sides of every argument-and then we're looking at having a public meeting in September just to go over some of the concerns about ATVs inside the community."
A hub resident, Bonnie Dawson, has noticed ATVs and dirt bikes ruining the trails, as well as the noise factor-something she said the town needs to address.
"I would like to see better control. I know that I've had to call the RCMP myself just due to the excessive noise in the wee hours of the morning in behind my own property."
The territorial government has an ATV Act, which Maher said Town Hall will take another look at that to see if it's sufficient for the town to use.
Maher believes anyone who buys an ATV should take a training course to learn how to use it properly.
