To the Editor:

Town-maintained roads and streets are the most important service that Berne provides its taxpaying citizens. Generally speaking, these winding town roads are narrower than the county and state highways that intersect them. Hundreds of us live along these roads.

The proposed Local Law #1 ATV 2023 currently under consideration would open up our vital town roads to local ATV riders as well as any out-of-towners or non-locals who become members of the Hilltown Riders ATV club, a nonlocal, private organization with a mailing address at 122 Karner Road in Albany, which owns dedicated off-road ATV trails in New Scotland and in the town of Day in Saratoga County.

Why is a nonlocal, private organization being given so much power to determine what happens to the lives and wellbeing of Berne’s citizens? Why is our town being hijacked by the interests of outsiders?

How do Berne residents benefit by opening up our beautiful, tranquil, rural community to outsiders who do not live in Berne, who do not pay taxes in Berne, and who will have no vested interest in the safety, privacy, and peace of mind of people who actually live here?

Consider this. At the end of a day of clogging up our roads with loud, noise-polluting vehicles, these outsiders will go home to peaceful towns that do not permit ATV traffic on their public streets! It’s a win, win for them. A big loss for us.

And make no mistake about the potential noise levels. At close range, a car engine produces about 8.5 decibels of sound. The noise level of ATVs at close range is 90 to 95 decibels. Even 200 feet away, the noise level remains near 84 or 85 decibels, which is at the threshold set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for causing permanent hearing damage if ear protection is not used.

And that’s the noise output of only one ATV. Multiply by a factor of 10, 20, 50, or however many machines may be in a fleet or caravan passing by your house or farm, an auditory assault on humans and livestock alike. This is another reason why ATVs are appropriate for off-road locations where remoteness, and the baffling effect of trees and topography, will limit noise impacts on the general public.

Bear in mind that there is no practical purpose for ATVs on our public roads. ATVs are for fun.

But we Berne residents depend on our town roads every day to go to work; to get our children back and forth safely from school; to provide safe passage for ambulances, fire trucks, and emergency vehicles; to visit doctors; to receive vital deliveries of heating fuel from propane and oil delivery trucks; to facilitate farmers in moving tractors and equipment between fields; to receive mail as well as UPS and FedEx deliveries (sometimes for essential medicines and medical supplies); to enable repairs from National Grid, Verizon, and all manner of construction vehicles, not to mention the town’s own road maintenance equipment.

And the list goes on. None of this is for fun. These are the necessities of daily living.

Imagine a cement truck or a propane delivery tanker or a school bus rounding a sharp bend and colliding with a slow-moving caravan of ATVs. Or imagine yourself and your family in a car rounding that same bend.

The aftermath will not be good. It could be catastrophic.

This is why virtually all towns in New York state, and virtually all jurisdictions in the rest of the United States, wisely follow state laws in prohibiting ATVs on public roads. ATVs are legally classified as off-road vehicles for a reason. They are simply unsafe, a hazard to the public and to the riders themselves on our roads.

However, I have no objection to local Berne ATV riders enjoying their recreation, so let me suggest a possible compromise. In many cases, we know these people because they are our friends and neighbors.

Berne is a small community. If there are problems with excessive noise or trespassing or damage to property, we are more likely to know who the offenders are and who to approach to work things out.

A draft law that restricts the privilege of ATV riding on town roads only to local, taxpaying residents with current drivers’ licenses might be a workable solution. The relevant documents for applicants would be:

—  1. A valid New York state driver’s license bearing a Berne address;

— 2. Proof of status as a Berne taxpayer; and

— 3. Proof of adequate liability insurance.

The Town of Berne, not a nonlocal private club, would collect an annual registration fee large enough to cover processing costs with something left over for the town highway department to help defray costs of road repairs. Also, the town of Berne, not a nonlocal private club, would handle certification and issue special stickers to be placed visibly on or near ATV license plates. The Berne Town Planning Board would work out the details and administer the program.

The proposed modification of the draft ATV law would accomplish several things.

It would solve the issue of parking since locals would largely keep trailers and trucks at home and depart on ATV rides directly from their own property. The town would not have to provide parking lots for the hordes of outsiders hoping to invade Berne. Parking along the roads is illegal and, of course, a hazard for local residents.

The same applies to bathrooms and garbage disposal. Local home-based ATV riders can use their own facilities for these purposes rather than littering the countryside with human waste and garbage. The town would not have to install special sanitary facilities or organize cleanup crews.

Of course, none of the foregoing addresses the big elephant in the room: The town and its residents could still face a potential legal nightmare of liability issues and lawsuits stemming from accidents, deaths, property encroachment, and property damage.

The main advantage of the suggested modification to the draft law is to sharply limit the number of ATV riders and, thereby, minimize traffic obstructions and hazards, noise, and disruptions to local life and livelihood. After all, there is no town police force to monitor large crowds of outsiders or to sanction reckless riders.

The last thing we need is to turn Berne into an amusement park hellscape for hordes of ATV riders from Albany, Schenectady, and virtually everywhere else in the state and beyond. That would be the end of our tranquility and rural way of life. An invasion force of Martians would be preferable.

Robert Jarvenpa

East Berne