REPORT: Montague Town Board declines request to make exception over local law and the SNIRT Run

LEWIS COUNTY- Board members for the Town of Montague have reportedly denied a request from local SNIRT advocates to make an exception to a local law that was passed last fall, which could end up impacting the annual SNIRT Run on Tug Hill.

This development is according to the latest from WWNY-TV.

The law in question is local to the town of Montague and prevents motorized vehicle events from town roads between April 1 and May 15.

The intent, according to Town Supervisor Bruce Williams, is to protect roadways from any excessive damage when they are most vulnerable. “The town can’t keep sustaining damage from an event where peak times of the year that pure frost is coming out of the ground,” Supervisor Williams told news reporters.

During a town board meeting this week, advocates for SNIRT, a traditional ATV run during the spring on Tug Hill, proposed the board make an exception for this year’s event, to which officials reportedly declined.

Instead, officials proposed that SNIRT be moved to an alternate date.

On the flip side, it’s reported that Lewis County did request the town of Montague via a letter to consider opening a few select roads for the event.

Furthermore, County Manager Ryan Piche claims that the county has a fund set aside for road damage for like events, but the town of Montague apparently chose not to utilize it.

Last year, there were issues the town of Lowville raised with SNIRT and their insurance policies.

This is a developing story and we did reach out on Thursday to Barnes Corners Sno-Pals, the local snowmobile club in charge of organizing SNIRT.

In their response, the snowmobile club clarified that they do not have a date selected and will inform everyone if and when a weekend is selected. *This story was updated with additional information as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, February 15.

SNIRT Run image.