ISLAND FALLS, Maine — Residents in Island Falls will be able to ride their four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles on designated town streets.
Voters approved an ordinance making the change at the town’s annual meeting held July 16. A total of 25 residents spent about two hours discussing municipal business at the meeting and also approving a $1,044,095 budget for 2020.
ATVs and utility terrain vehicles will be permitted access to any public way maintained by the town. Since U.S. routes 2 and 159 are state roads and not maintained by the town, ATVs/UTVs will not be permitted on those roadways, per the ordinance.
ATV operators must obey all properly posted road signs and proceed with caution when approaching or passing bicyclists, hikers and horses. They must also operate solely on the right-hand side of the road and not exceed 15 mph.
The new ordinance also only applies to all-terrain vehicles and does not include snowmobiles.
Any person who violates this ordinance will be subject to a fine up to $200.
The municipal budget is a $24,412 increase over the previous year’s spending plan, according to Town Manager Juta Beyer. The approved budget will likely have an impact on the town’s tax rate.
“I assume that there will be an increase in the mill rate, since the revenue has gone down as well,” Beyer said. The 2019 tax rate for Island Falls was 23.05 mills, which means a home valued at $100,000 would have a tax bill of $2,305.
Included in the spending plan were $20,000 for the comprehensive plan; $30,000 for the erection of an informational LED sign for the town; $50,000 for building renovations; and $30,000 for renovations to the town’s historic jail, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
One area seeing a reduction in the budget this year was the road maintenance account. Beyer said the town had a carry forward of $40,700 for the roads account, which allowed the town to reduce the new amount raised for maintenance to $148,045.
At the polls, Frank Porter and Tony Bowers were both re-elected to three-year terms on the board of selectmen.
