Should the Village Board Open Penn Yan to Snowmobiles?

NOTE: Contrary to the report by Douglas Robb in the Chronicle Express, the materials given to the Penn Yan village board by Penn Yan resident Anne Gunn are NOT available on this web site for viewing. Some people may find the information below interesting, but it is not what was presented to the board.

There was a public hearing on Tuesday, January 11th at 7 pm in the new village hall at 111 Elm Street in downtown Penn Yan. The village board held the hearing to get public input on their proposal to open the outlet trail and the Elm Street Sports Complex - which borders the Keuka Marsh - to snowmobiles. Also, the board recently completed a draft environmental assessment form (EAF ) concerning their proposal to open the village to snowmobiles. In the recently completed draft EAF, the board said that allowing snowmobiles on the outlet trail and in the Elm Street sports complex would result in no negative impact on the environment. The board said they would take written comments on the proposal through Friday. (See the mayor's village website at http://www.villageofpennyan.com/penn-yan-mayor.html and send an email)

In typical village fashion, the board didn't bother to make their proposals available on the village web site. The village pays a firm thousands of dollars each year to maintain the village web site, yet they can not (or will not) post important documents online. Apparently the village isn't eager to widely distribute this information. To get it, they would make you go into the village office, deal with the village clerk, and pay out $6.00 for these copies - click on the links below to view:

Proposed Change to Current Parks & Recreation Code - would allow snowmobiles on the village outlet trail and in the Elm Street Sports Complex. The legislation places no restrictions on hours of operation and inflicts no fines for violators of the statute.

Draft Full Environmental Assessment Form - says there would be no negative environmental impact from allowing snowmobiles on the outlet trail.

Resolution 43-04 - sets a date for the public hearings for both of the items above.

On February 24, 2004 village attorney Edward Brockman claimed that the issue of snowmobiles on the Outlet Trail would be "studied extensively over the next four to five months". Village Trustee and bar owner Willie Allison (his bar caters to snowmobiles) and his buddies have posted a handful of pro-snowmobile comments on the Yates County Chamber of Commerce web site guest book . Some in the village have tried to equate these postings to an actual study. The truth is, despite village attorney Ed Brockman's hollow rhetoric concerning "extensive studies", the village has conducted no studies - much less extensive ones - on this issue. This fact was made glaringly obvious when the board blindly fumbled through their environmental assessment form recently, committing some major blunders when guessing at answers. Because they have conducted no studies, the village doesn't know who is using the outlet trail in the wintertime. They don't know how many people are using the trail, or for what purpose. Some board members, notably the mayor (in a public meeting with the Genesee Regional Transportation Authority early in 2004) have claimed in a one-note argument that opening the outlet trail to snowmobiles would boost Penn Yan's economy and draw in outside visitors to our community. The truth is, the push to open the village to snowmobiles has come from the local snowmobile club, not from high-spending tourists eager to start riding snowmobiles through Penn Yan. Penn Yan is trying to upgrade its reputation statewide from a redneck town to a one with a more sophisticated image. Is selling out our quiet and relatively unpolluted waterfront to a group of local snowmobilers a good way to accomplish this goal? Rather than drawing visitors in, local snowmobile riders (some intoxicated) speeding along the outlet trail night and day will be much more likely to drive off tourists. Skiers and snowshoers seeking quiet solitude with nature will find their sensibilities assaulted by dirty, noisy snowmobiles. The real tourists will leave and seek out places where they can ski and snowshoe without coming under sensory attack by noisy, polluting snow machines. The board's decision is also a slap in the face to local residents who have opted to live in Penn Yan because they enjoy the quiet life. These folks want to enjoy nature in clean fresh air, not noisy air poisoned with exhaust from dirty snowmobile engines.

Some of the people campaigning to open up the village to snowmobiles are doing so because they would like to access village bars from their snowmobiles. Drinking and snowmobiling are a horrific combination. The reality of non-enforcement by our local police only increases the likelihood that a drunken snowmobile tragedy will occur. Public safety concerns have not been addressed with this legislation. Indeed, the village board has failed to even place limits on the hours of operation which snowmobiles may run through our village, even though the board knows that the noise from late night snowmobiles is an issue of concern. "Late at night is when they like to run," said one board member at a recreation meeting when the matter of restricting hours of snowmobile operation came up. Newsflash: it's also when many people like to sleep. You can clearly see which constituency takes priority in this village board's eyes. Additionally, the board did not even see fit to impose any penalties on those who would violate the statutes they are laying out. What message does it send when the village board chooses to impose no penalties for bad behavior?

The Penn Yan village board has resolved to move forward with their proposed changes to the village code despite the opposition of their own village Planning Board. The Planning Board voted unanimously to maintain the ban on snowmobiles in the village. Members of the Planning Board talked to their neighbors in the village, and found a lack of support for changing the code. The Planning Board also pointed out how the wooden bridges over the outlet have been gouged and damaged from snowmobiles. The local snowmobile club has made some hollow promises about pitching in to maintain the outlet trail, but they haven't forked over any cash to fix these damaged bridges.

This village board has done everything in their power to help out the local snowmobile club. (Deputy mayor Willie Allison is a club member). First, the board tried to claim that the outlet trail wasn't part of the village park system, so the ban on snowmobiles in village parks didn't apply. Then, an anonymous person in the local government - whose identity has never been revealed - ordered village police to remove the 'no snowmobiling' signs that were posted on the outlet trail. The board even discussed snowmobiles in a lengthy executive session on January 27, 2004 in violation of state open meeting laws - and were overheard doing so. Mayor Marchionda, when asked, denied that the board discussed snowmobiles in the executive session. In the final straw, the village claimed they would not enforce their own code which banned snowmobiles in village parks. With the eager assistance of the village attorney, the board has done everything in their power to expedite changing the code - even foolishly scheduling a public hearing before the code changes have been reviewed by the county planning board.

The board has claimed that there will be no negative environmental impact as a result of allowing snowmobiles on the outlet trail, because snowmobiles were already illegally running through the trail on a regular basis. When laws are broken and damage to the community results, local government should protect the community by enforcing the law - not changing the law to accommodate those who break it. Snowmobiles were polluting our watershed through illegal trail use. The answer is not to legalize the lawbreaking activity causing the pollution. The appropriate response is to enforce the no snowmobile laws and stop harmful pollution which should not have been happening in the first place. Fact: snowmobiles cause pollution to the environment. The board cannot deny this, and claiming that a snowmobile will not have a negative impact on the environment is, a priori, a falsehood.

The local snowmobile club has tried to discount data regarding two-stroke engines, saying that new snow machines are cleaner. The fact is most snowmobiles zooming down the outlet trail are two stroke engines. The four stroke engines are very expensive and few people own them. Two stroke engines have poor combustion. The US Environmental Protection Agency has noted that 1/3 of the fuel consumed by a snowmobile engine passes directly through the engine without being burned, straight out the tailpipe and into the environment View Report. Snowmobiles emit known carcinogens (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, benzene, and other aldehides) into the environment. On an individual basis, one snowmobile can emit as much pollution in one hour as nearly 100 automobiles. Source: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/nonroad/proposal/f01030.htm

Village trustee Gary Smith claimed that the pollution from snowmobiles along the outlet trail would be no worse than pollution from a car driving down a nearby street. An 85 page study published by the US Department of Interior in 2003 disclosed that snowmobiles produce 1,000 times more carbon dioxide than automobiles. The pollution from snowmobiles doesn't miraculously disappear with spring snowmelt, either. Pollutants from snowmobile emissions are "locked" within the snowpack. The toxic effects of accumulated pollutants in the snowpack are magnified during the first few days of spring, when they are released during snowmelt, causing elevated acidity levels in surrounding waterways and resulting in higher death rates for aquatic insects and amphibians.Click HERE for more This release of pollutants may have far-reaching consequences for surrounding watersheds. Acidity fluctuations can disable a watershed's ability to regulate its own pH level, possibly triggering system-wide problems and resulting in a long-term alteration of an entire ecosystem. Considering that the outlet flows into the watershed of Seneca Lake, this is a matter of grave concern, completely ignored by the Penn Yan village board.

Snowmobiling is a dangerous sport. Most deaths happen when the snowmobile rider rolls the vehicle over or is thrown off it. Part of the problem is the speed capacity of modern snowmobiles. Manufacturers have designed machines capable of reaching up to 120 miles per hour. That translates into a lot of power in the hands of riders who aren't even required to receive training . (Kids as young as 10 may ride snowmobiles and must take a safety course; there is no such requirement for adults). New York State estimates that alcohol plays a role in the majority of all fatal snowmobile accidents. Indeed, the local snowmobile club's recreational activities seem to revolve around alcohol consumption . (Click HERE to read a flyer describing one of the group's recent fundraising efforts. Note that this "poker run" involves stops at 10 bars in our local community). Data also describes how, as snowmobiles have become faster, injuries resulting from snowmobile accidents have grown more and more gruesome. Hot rod machines in the hands of untrained riders, mixed with alcohol, reduced visibility at night and dangerous obstacles hidden by snow, all combine to create a deadly recipe for tragedy. On top of this, most crashes occur in areas that are difficult to access by emergency vehicles, delaying the time it takes for the injured to get attention and putting rescue workers at risk. Rescuers could not necessarily arrive speedily to help someone suffering serious injury on the outlet trail. Trustee Gary Smith made the comment at the last village board meeting that Penn Yan residents can't object to the noise from snowmobiles because, after all, snowmobiles are "no louder than a chainsaw". In fact, a single snowmobile produces noise in the range of 85 - 110 decibels - levels loud enough to require hearing protection Click HERE according to standards set by the American Hospital Association.

The local snowmobile club recently lobbied the Yates County Legislature to use their grant writer to sponsor the club in a grant application seeking an expansive network of snowmobile trails across Yates County. Many of these trails would cross over private property. Opening the village of Penn Yan to snowmobiles is just the first step in the local snowmobile club's grander plan to expand a huge network of snowmobile trails county-wide.

Hopefully the Penn Yan village board will do the right thing and protect the interests of residents who live in this village. Hopefully they won't make a wrongheaded decision that is so arrogantly one-sided and devoid of compromise it results in yet another expensive and protracted lawsuit.

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Archive - Past "What's New" Items:

Archive - Past "What's New" Items:

Ode to a Fallen Oak - August 7, 2004
Who Moved Our Sign? - August 14, 2004
Special Use Permits - August 21, 2004
What's Wrong with this Picture? - September 11, 2004
Who are You Calling? - September 19, 2004
Chronicle Express - Afraid to Ask the Tough Questions? - September 30, 2004
Who You Callin' - Volume 2 - December 27, 2004
Should Snowmobiles be Allowed in the Village? - January 2005
Revised EAF and so-called 'decibel study' - March 2005
A New Tour Boat for Keuka Lake - May 2005
Walgreens Proposal- July 2005
August Boat show - August 2005

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