Arbyrd's City Marshall Mitch Skelton discusses the city's problem with off-road vehicles within the city limits during Thursday night's city council meeting at Arbyrd. Staff photo by Trina Bell

Thursday's city council meeting brought a lot of issues to light, especially when councilman Brent Pierce asked about the legality of four-wheelers inside the city limits.

"Dennis Rainey with the Missouri State Highway Patrol brought this to my attention after our parade last Friday night," Pierce said. He explained, "we started talking about towns that are allowing four-wheelers as a source of transportation, and that is when I learned that we are not in any position to allow four-wheelers to be ridden, due to the fact there are state statutes prohibiting such."

City Marshall Mitch Skelton agreed with Pierce, adding that, he wouldn't want to be responsible for allowing a kid to ride a four-wheeler in town and that kid get killed on it. "I couldn't live with that," Skelton said, "and if they are riding in town, their chances of getting hit by a car is tripled."

Pierce said what concerns him the most is the fact that the ones who are riding the four-wheelers in town are mostly young kids. "Not only is that a danger in itself, but they are speeding down these streets and driving very recklessly," Pierce said, "and that's the problem I have with this whole thing."

Although each councilman agreed it would not be that big of a deal if the four-wheelers were being driven in an orderly fashion, it agreed that, in order to get the recklessness under control, it could best do so by abiding by the state statutes.

"To be legal, the person operating the four-wheeler should be at least 16-years of age, with a valid driver's license, they should be insured, and have all the safety devices, including the orange flag and helmet," Skelton said, "but they are not supposed to be on any state highway anyway."

Pierce said, that, "no matter what the city chooses to do about the situation, Patrolman Rainey said if he sees anyone, especially a kid, riding on any of the state highways, he will give them a ticket," Pierce said. "That's another reason I think it would be best for us to enforce the same laws within our city."

Although the council said it wants to cut out the reckless behavior on the four-wheelers, it did understand that kids in a small town do not have a lot to do. "I know it's hard to find something to do in such a small town," Mayor Lonnie Gibson, Jr. said, "but it seems that every time we give an inch, they take a mile," referring to a time when several city residents stepped up and said kids could ride their four-wheelers on their property or cut through their property in order to get out of the city limits.

"After that point, things have just progressively gotten worse," Gibson said, "and that's what has got us to this point."

The council advised Skelton that it would back him in his decisions and that tickets should be written at his discretion.

"If you see a teenager on a four-wheeler who is wearing a helmet and is not driving in a dangerous manner, and of course, is not riding down a state highway, that's one thing," Councilman Jessica Zolman said, "but if you see a kid speeding down the street, or riding without a helmet," I think you should write their parents a ticket," she added.

In addition to discussing the use of four-wheelers, the council talked about its upcoming Cotton Pickin Country Concert and Bootheel Biker Poker Run, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008. This concert will feature the Kentucky Head Hunters and Ben Brand. More information and details regarding this event will be featured in the Daily Dunklin Democrat at a later date.

Other items of business included:

* Setting a date and time for the city's tax rate hearing, which was scheduled for 4 p.m., Monday, Aug. 4, 2008.

* Approving the request to pay for Skelton's upcoming Basic Law Enforcement class scheduled to begin Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008, at the city hall at Arbyrd.