Scott County Sheriff Anthony Lay announced at last night’s meeting of County Commission that his department will be stepping up enforcement of state ATV laws, and will begin issuing citations after a two-week grace period.

Essentially, state law says that no ATVs are permitted on roadways owned and maintained by state, county or municipal governments. The exception is that ATVs are permitted to cross any roadway to get from one side to the other. Another exception, locally, is the O&W Road into the Big South Fork NRRA, which is exempt from ATV restrictions.

In a letter delivered this morning, Lay said ATV riders were reckless and disturbing the peace in Scott County, hence the enforcement.

This is a good move by the sheriff. ATVs are out-of-control. And I say that as one of the biggest supporters of ATVs that you’ll find around here. I’ve said many times that ATVs can be the source of a positive economic future for Scott County if we’ll let them be. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have control over them.

I believe, as 1st District Commissioner Jeff Watson said at last night’s meeting, there needs to be some roads where ATVs are permitted. This would include the Court Street, River Road and other Huntsville roads in the immediate vicinity of Brimstone Recreation, as well as Brimstone Road, Ridge Road and other roads outside Huntsville that border Brimstone in other sides.

But there’s no need for ATVs to be running up and down the highways, and there’s no need for ATVs to be on Mountain View Road or Huntsville Hill Road or Ditney Trail or any of the other roads where they can be found on a regular basis.

At the end of the day, ATV riders brought this on themselves. A few bad apples always spoils the bunch, but in the case of ATVs, it seems like more than a few. They refuse to yield right-of-way when riding on public roads with vehicles behind them, ride with loud pipes, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. And this is coming from someone who used to ride his Yamaha Grizzly up and down quite a few public roads, so don’t think I don’t know how to lump myself in with the rest.

It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts Lay with the general public. He has indicated that he sees the writing on the wall: This could very well help usher in a new administration next fall. It seems like every other person in Scott County owns an ATV. This may very well put him at odds with Brimstone Recreation, and it would seem likely to put him at odds with the Town of Huntsville. Huntsville passed an ordinance last year allowing ATVs on all city streets, but Lay has stated that if it is proven that state law supersedes municipal law in that circumstance, he’ll enforce the law.

In his letter, Lay stated, “If I turn my head and don’t enforce laws for citizens’ well-being, you need a new sheriff . . . Being a public official is about doing the right thing for the benefit of the citizens you serve. It is not about being selfishly worried about your job and votes.”

I have had my disagreements with the sheriff, but I can’t help but feel that he is spot-on with this issue.