By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle correspondent

     More than 40 people crowded into Republic's city council chamber Nov. 10 to hear or give comments on a proposed city ordinance that would allow off-highway vehicles and snowmobiles to operate on a designated route from the Eagles OHV park into Republic.
     Twelve individuals spoke out against the measure and seven urged its passage.
     Mayor Shirley Couse said she had a stack of letters addressing the issue, and of those, 17 businesses urged passage of the ordinance while three or four do not support it.
     The city will receive letters through November, she said.
     People against the ordinance cited safety, enforcement, noise and dust as reasons they didn't want to see the recreational vehicles come into town.
     The proposed route uses a pathway from the OHV park area, Sampson Lane, Ninth Street, an alley west of Clark Avenue, Kean Street, back to the alley behind various businesses crossing Sixth Street and Delaware Avenue and into a private parking lot across the street from the post office.
     It would also include a small part of Kean Street from Delaware into the city shop area, part of Eighth Street to the Northern Inn and part of the old railroad route west of Clark Avenue, under the bridge and a small part of 14th Street to access Chevron, Mel's Diner and Jim's Automotive.
     Cleve Ives urged the council to consider that there is not a lack of OHV facilities as the ordinance states and the city should consider a balanced approach to support other types of recreation such as cross country skiing and bicycling.
     Ives also questioned the including bridge across the creek before the route comes onto Sampson Lane.
     The bridge was built by the snowmobile club, according to Couse.
     Ives said some OHVs have been avoiding that bridge and going through the creek, which is illegal.
     He also said the proposed ordinance sets a 5 mph speed limit when recreational vehicles approach animals and livestock, but wondered why that courtesy couldn't be extended to humans.
     Kathleen McCoy said she believes the proposed route will interfere with the lifestyle of a number of elderly and disabled people who live along the alley between Ninth and Eighth streets.
     "We’re not going to get overrun," said Jacob Tresham, recreation and tourism specialist for Ferry County. "This is not going to be non-stop usage.
     "I would like to see stricter penalties and fines for those disobeying the ordinance," Tresham said, citing one case where a $500 fine for a first offense was instituted in another locality and problems were greatly decreased.
     The draft ordinance calls for fines up to $250.
     One member of the Quiet Communities Coalition, an organization suing Ferry County over its OHV ordinance, asked if the city had done environmental studies about how the proposed ordinance would affect the Granite Creek drainage.
     A QCC statement issued by QCC president Steve Anthes after the meeting said the city's proposed ordinance is not illegal, but it is ill-conceived.
     The ordinance is based on a state law that says the legislative body of a city with a population of less than 3,000 may, by ordinance, designate a street or highway within its boundaries to be suitable for use by off-road vehicles, and on another state law that allows snowmobiles to be operated upon a public roadway or highway when the city gives notice that such roadway or highway is open to snowmobiles for all-terrain vehicle use.
     "I'm probably going to be one of the most affected by this," Couse told those at the meeting. "I live on Sampson Lane."
     Couse said she is wonders where the rights of those who want to participate end and the rights of those who want quiet begin.
     "It's a community and in a community people like some things about it and other people don't like those things about it," she said.
     The council will vote on the measure at its regular meeting Dec. 1, and written statements will be accepted up until then, she said.
     The draft ordinance and map are available on the city's Web site: republicwa.org.