Cavan Monaghan Township will hold a public meeting in early December to discuss the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) on municipal roads, specifically in Cavan Ward.
Although ORVs are currently prohibited on roads throughout the township, a new staff report will be brought back to council in the new year following the public consultation so that councillors can reconsider permitting the use of ORVs in the ward, south of Peterborough.
Because North Monaghan Ward is almost all county roads with few township roads that don’t really go anywhere, and because ORV riders can’t get into or out of the village of Millbrook without using county roads, township Mayor Scott McFadden said it only makes sense to hold off on any discussion regarding those wards until the Peterborough County transportation master plan is released in 2021.
During Monday afternoon’s township council meeting, McFadden said it’s important to emphasize the focus of the public meeting is municipal roads in Cavan Ward, only to be discussed with people who live in the township.
“So, similar to how the first meeting was a discussion on the connection of the trail and everything outside of that was not to be discussed, this meeting will be specifically directed to the municipal roads in the Cavan Ward,” he said.
While Coun. Tim Belch said he doesn’t think there’s anyone he has spoken to who would use ORVs in North Monaghan, he said a number of people who live in Cavan have told him they would.
“So, I am in favour of having a public meeting that would allow those people to speak,” Belch said.
Coun. Ryan Huntley said he backs having a public meeting to discuss the roads in Cavan “or anywhere else in this township, for that matter.”
Council wants to reassure township residents that it is open to listening to their concerns about ORVs, McFadden said, “and that we will take that feedback to go into a report.”
The topic of ORVs on township roads is contentious, McFadden said.
“Our phones didn’t stop last night,” he said.
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One council member received a call from someone about the issue at 11 p.m. on Sunday, while another council member received a call at 1 a.m. Monday, McFadden said.
“It’s completely uncalled for. We are a very open and transparent council,” McFadden said. “You’re free to give us a call and text us and email us any other time, but please be respectful. We have meetings, obviously, during the day and it’s very challenging when you’re getting phone calls at one o’clock in the morning.”
Coun. Cathy Moore said she thinks there’s been a lot of uproar for nothing, particularly over the weekend.
“If the ATV people want to be respected in this community, they shouldn’t be bullying and harassing people to extent that they did over this past weekend,” she said.
“That said, I do think they should still have their say and we should listen to them before we make a final decision.”
Deputy Mayor Matthew Graham said there has been a lot of unnecessary and inflammatory information shared by groups on both sides of the issue, “and aggressively condescending messages directed toward all members of council that are based on impulsivity rather than any reason or fact.”
Graham said it will be impossible to create a bylaw that pleases everyone.
“When people come forward in this public meeting, come forward with an empathy and with an understanding that compromise is the way forward and that we need to in fact work together to achieve anything. There’s no right or wrong on this issue,” he said.
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