Welch provides tie breaker to pass allowance of golf carts in city of Lincoln

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[September 21, 2021] 

At the Monday night meeting of the Lincoln City council aldermen were split down the middle on the vote to approve an ordinance allowing for usage of golf carts on city streets.

The motion was made by Kevin Bateman and seconded by Rick Hoefle.

At the time for discussion, Bateman said that he felt the ordinance should outline the location of the registration sticker. He recommended that the sticker be placed on the required slow moving vehicle sign that must be placed on the back of the cart.

Bateman said it would permit local law enforcement to have only one location to look to assure that the cart had the required placard as well as the sticker.

Hoefle asked that the ordinance be adjusted to reflect a start date for the allowance of the carts to November 1st. He said the city will have to devise and have printed the sticker required by the ordinance. Typically an ordinance will have a start date “upon approval.”

Hoefle said it would be unfair to the City Clerk to have people coming in seeking the permits when there was no sticker to issue. All agreed to that change and Hoefle made an amended motion that was seconded by Ron Fleshman.

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The vote for the amendment passed with a six-two vote and the council moved on to the vote for the amendment.

When the vote to pass the ordinance was taken the council was split in half. Those voting no included Kathy Horn, Sam Downs, Steve Parrott and Wanda Lee Rohlfs.

Those voting yes were Kevin Bateman, Rick Hoefle, Ron Fleshman and Greg Miller.

With the vote taken, the responsibility of deciding the matter fell on Mayor Tracy Welch. Welch said that his vote would be yes.

Thus the ordinance passed. Lincoln residents will be able to apply for the permits starting November 1st. The annual permit fee will be prorated to cover the time period from November 1st to April 30th of 2022.

[Nila Smith]

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