The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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February 19, 2009

New Ulm golf-cart debate heats up

City officials examining pros, cons of allowing carts on city streets

By Brian Ojanpa

NEW ULM — Discussion is being teed up in New Ulm on whether to allow use of golf carts on city streets.

“I think it’s something we should look at,” said City Council Member Todd Olson of an issue first raised in 2008, when gasoline was $4 a gallon.

The council tabled the matter at the time and scheduled it to be revisited this month.

A council-formed subcommittee has been appointed to research the matter and make a recommendation.

New Ulm Police Chief and subcommittee member Myron Wieland said he’s neutral on the matter.

“We’ll be looking at communities that permit carts on right of ways and looking into any inherent problems — and benefits also. I think the committee is going to have some work on its hands.”

In the Mankato area at least two cities — North Mankato and Wells — kicked around the carts-on-streets question in 2007, but the issue died under its own weight in both communities.

Olson said plenty of questions that must be answered, including times of day for usage and route restrictions.

“We wouldn’t want them running down Highway 14 or on the hills in the city,” he said.

The impetus for in-city golf cart requests is typically driven by mobility concerns for the elderly and the infirm.

That was the case in North Mankato and Wells, and likewise in New Ulm.

Said Olson, “One constituent said she’d like it because her dad is older and doesn’t like to drive his car that much.”

Only a handful of Minnesota cities allow in-city cart travel, with stipulations that include daylight operation only, mandatory installation of turn-signal lights and seat belts.

In Sun Belt states, driving golf carts on city streets has become relatively common. In Peachtree, Ga., miles of golf cart paths have been installed, and the local high school’s student lot has an area for cart parking.

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