DODGE CITY, KS - After several months of contention, the Kansas Legislature decided the use of work vehicles on public roadways was illegal unless each individual city legalized them, according to the Dodge City Daily Globe.
On a recommendation from City Manager/Legal Counsel Ken Strobel, the commission agreed to allow the vehicles on local roadways, within specific guidelines.
The new ordinance would require owners of work-site vehicles to register them with the city and provide liability insurance. Owners would also have to fit all other regular traffic requirements, including having a valid driver's license.
Commissioner Jim Lembright said he wanted to stress the fact that the language in the ordinance didn't include all-terrain vehicles.
"We don't want ATVs running around the streets," Lembright said.
Strobel, working his first day as the newly appointed city manager, said the ordinance would go into effect within the month, as soon as the city was able to draw up paperwork and create an easily identifiable tag for the vehicles.
Anyone driving the vehicles within city limits also have to pay property tax to Ford County, which will then offer proof of registration to the driver.
The commission didn't set a processing fee for the vehicles, but City Clerk Nannette Pogue said it wouldn't be an exorbitant amount.
"It will just be enough to recoup losses," Pogue said. Registration is expected to begin within the next 30 days.
