Local voters face several referenda

Paddock Lake, Salem, Silver Lake all have ballot questions

By Gail Peckler-Dziki

Correspondent

Residents in the villages of Paddock Lake and Silver Lake and the Town of Salem will face local referenda questions this November.

The questions cover a variety of topics ranging from the very existence of the Village of Silver Lake to the use of ATVs and golf carts on certain roads in Salem and Paddock Lake.

Just over 200 Silver Lake residents presented a petition to ask, “Should the Silver Lake Village board be prohibited from entering into any agreement with the Town of Salem, Wisconsin, for any sharing of Fire Department or Rescue services, other than the Usual MABAS agreement?”

More than 400 Silver Lake residents presented a petition to place the question, “Should the Village of Silver Lake, Kenosha County, Wisconsin dissolve?” on the ballot.

If the first question is answered yes by a majority then the only cooperative fire and emergency services that the village would have with Salem would be the MABAS (mutual aid box alarm system) service.

MABAS is a mutual aid system used for deploying fire, rescue and emergency medical services personnel in a multi-jurisdictional and/or multi-agency response. If a fire or other emergency is too large for one municipal department, other departments will be dispatched, according to need.

What this question leaves out is the Automatic Response Agreement (ARA), which is slightly different from MABAS.

Automatic response occurs immediately and equipment sent through automatic aid must offset a need. For example, if a ladder truck is needed at a fire and the department doesn’t have one, one can be sent by a neighboring community.

Mutual department training as half-day drills are part of this agreement and must occur regularly throughout the year.

Mutual aid occurs after the responding fire department arrives on scene, assesses the emergency, determines what is needed and then calls for it. Generally, mutual aid programs are recognized for water supply only.

On the second question, if two-thirds of those who vote on Nov. 4 agree to dissolve, within six months, the Village of Silver Lake will become part of the Town of Salem.

 

Salem ATV routes

Salem residents will see a non-binding referendum that asks, “Shall the Salem Town Board adopt an ordinance which would authorize the operation of all-terrain vehicles on certain town roads designated as ATV routes?”

A yes vote indicates that the voter favors the adoption of an ordinance that designates specific town roads as an ATV route and establishes the conditions, requirements and limitations on the use of Town roads for that purpose. Those who don’t favor the adoption of an ordinance that would create an ATV route on certain town roads would vote no.

The three proposed trial ATV routes allow lake access to residents in three neighborhoods. They are Val-Mar, Timberline and Salem Oaks/Montgomery Lake. The last route allows neighborhood residents access to both Hooker and Montgomery Lakes along town roads.

This is only an advisory referendum. Should the town board decide to create an ordinance allowing ATV routes on certain town streets, they it not happen immediately. The residents who want the routes will need to form a club, according to Mike Langel.

“We will need signs to show the route and speed limits,” he explained. “We don’t want to use taxpayer dollars to do it, we want to develop a club with dues and pay for the signs that way.”

There are numerous requirements for ATV’s that would be allowed on a town road route. They include head and taillights on at all times, brake lights mufflers and noise level requirements and spark arresters. No personal modifications are allowed. And the routes would be on the far right side of the road and not in ditches.

The town can set ATV speed limits, but the state has strict limits also. When within 100 feet of a dwelling or pedestrian, the ATV speed limit is 10 mph. And ATV riders must follow posted speed limits that might be less than the maximum allowed.

 

Paddock Lake golf carts

Last spring, a group of Paddock Lake village residents presented a petition to the board that read, “I support safe, legal golf cart operation on Paddock Lake roads by licensed drivers and urge the Paddock Lake Village Board to authorize such operation.”

Paddock Lake is a lake community and many residents dock their boats at parks and on channels. In many places, parking is limited and it is easier and more convenient for some to take a golf cart rather than a car.

Until recently, state law forbade the use of golf carts on any Wisconsin roads and anyone who did so was ticketed. Some time in the middle of 2013, Gov. Scott Walker signed a law that allows local municipalities to determine if golf carts can be used on certain roads and how they would be regulated.

Since there were some residents who questioned the issue, the Village Board decided to put the item on the Nov. 4 ballot as a referendum.


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