Residents rage about lake ordinance at recent City Council meeting

On Monday, Sept. 23, City Council held its normal meeting with the main topic of discussion centered around the lake road ordinance. The ordinance states that you cannot ride on the road with ATV’s and UTV’S, given that people had been going out there tearing up the road, costing the city more than $ 20,000 annually according to Olney Mayor Phil Jeske.

A few citizens of Olney brought their case to the City Council, saying that “we are all tax payers” paying for that land regardless. If we want to ride our ATV’S or UTV’S we have to drive to Decatur or someone else because that is the only place in Olney where we can ride,” said one citizen who came before the council. “I don’t think it is fair that we are being punished for other people tearing up the road,” the citizen added. His suggestion to the council to fix this situation was to make sure police come out and catch the people that are responsible, but according to the council, that is not possible.

Most people in Olney do not realize that the Lake Road is owned by the City of Olney. The council has had several conversations about the best course of action on this issue. City Council believes it is best for the property to not have ATV’s or UTV’S destroying it., resulting in high costs to the city, which amount to thousands of dollars every year.