Harwood city leaders seek ways to slow traffic in town

Sunday, September 12, 2004

By Ben Holman

Nevada Herald

The Harwood city council is looking for ways to deal with a speeding problem in their town.

"People just come flying through there," said Steve Bütorff, Harwood Town Clerk, to the Vernon County Commission last Tuesday.

Harwood residents are fed up with people driving through their town with no regard for the posted speed limit.

The latest idea is to put in speed bumps to force passers-through to slow down to a safe speed.

The town tried to get the Vernon County Sheriff's Office to patrol the town more often, but did not achieve what they felt was an appreciable response. "We're a little town with only one industry, the elevator," said Mayor Dick Robinson. He said that small towns like his often get overlooked by the sheriff's office because they do not bring in much tax revenue and, without businesses that deal in a lot of cash and attract crime, are not considered high-priority.

He also said that the Sheriff's Office already is short-staffed and has a tight budget, making it more difficult to respond to the needs of every community.

Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman said that he agrees with Robinson's assessment that the budget is tight and manpower is limited, but added, "We patrol out there all the time, but (sometimes) we're busy in other parts of the county. We can't be out there twenty-four/seven."

Bütorff said that the without police to catch the speeders, the problem will continue.

"In order to enforce the speed limit, you've got to have someone to enforce it," he said.

The city isn't financially able to deal with enforcement on its own. "We don't have the revenue to hire even a part-time deputy," said Robinson.

Bütorff was at the county commission meeting on Tuesday because, "I went to the prosecutor's office and they sent me to the clerk. The clerk's office sent me to (the county commission)."

He wanted to find out if it is permissible for the town council of Harwood to vote to put speed bumps on the roads where speeding is a problem.

Presiding Commissioner David Darnold said, "Us saying you can or you can't won't make any difference."

He said that the state allots powers to villages, of which Harwood is one, and that Harwood can only exercise powers specifically granted to them.

The commissioners referred Bütorff to John Ballard, an independent legal consultant from Ashland, Mo. Bütorff said that Ballard told him that it was within the powers granted to villages to place speed bumps.

Still, Robinson wants to make sure that everything is legal before they go ahead with anything.

"We want to make sure that everything is in accordance with the law," he said. "We need to talk to the state and to read the statues."

The speeding issue is of high importance to Robinson.

"We've got a lot of small children in town and we want to keep them safe," said Robinson.

Bütorff said that the speed bumps are an option that the town is considering because other efforts to do so don't seem to be working. "All I want people to do is just slow down," he said.

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