we live in sabetha kansas, an extremely small farming community. we have been riding at the old lake since the 60's. recently the city has become concerned about their exposure, hence, trails have been closed till further notice. have met with the city council several times and have their support if we can limit their exposure. their insurance company has singled out atv's as an area they will not cover. how bout it legal eagles, any thots ?
thanx,
steve

 

1) Form a club, get insurance and lease the trails from the city.

2) Fee based system. Buy a pass to ride there and have the money go to pay for insurance. No pass and you're tresspassing.

3) Have the city give management duties to a state government organizaition that would carry the insurance.

4) Have it posted as an assumed risk area like a ski area or stable. This means that it is marked as a dangerous area for certain activities and that the user chooses to participate they assume liability for riding there. Not sure if KS has this law, but we have it here in TN.

5) Talk with the insurance company and find out what they would require to cover the area for ATV use. Improve the trails? Posting of rules and enforcements of those rules?

6) If the area is big enough, sell it to the city council as a potential revenue source. Fees to ride, out-of-town folks coming to ride and stay in the hotels, buying meals, buying gas, etc.

This is all I can think of at the moment.

Good luck.

 

thanx for the input. talked with army corps of engineers. they say as long as they don't charge a fee and make no improvements, the torte claims act covers them.

 

I live in the Kansas City area and I'm looking for some ATV places. Sabetha looks like it's about an hour out of KC. I'm always environment-aware and would like some directions if it's okay.

 

just an update. we have met several times with the city council. pointed out the tort claims act protects them from liability exposure. was not good enough for them, i guess. they want "absolute" guarantees that no one will ever get hurt or ever try and sue them. in a real world, that will never happen so i guess we have lost our riding area of thirty years.
guess i'll just have to find someone that wants to trade an ultra-lite for two brand new polaris 500 scramblers <sigh>