Kamsack Mayor Rod Gardner and town council have more work ahead of them if they still wish to have regulations changed to allow increased usage of golf carts in the community.
Although the SUMA (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association) convention has twice passed a resolution from Kamsack endorsing a proposal to allow urban centres such as Kamsack to permit its residents to travel by golf cart within the community, in addition to going strictly from home to a golf course, SGI has yet to get on board.
At its regular meeting on November 9, council passed a resolution authorizing contact with other communities with municipal golf courses in order to discuss the possibility of a joint lobbying effort.
Mayor Gardner had met with the vice-president of SGI’s Auto Fund and the minister responsible for SGI on August 19 to discuss expanding the golf cart use in smaller urban centre.
“Minister McMorris has advised Mayor Gardner that SGI will not expand the regulations around the use of golf carts,” the resolution reads.
“SGI officials have done some further research into this issue,” said the letter to Gardner from Don McMorris.
“As you’re aware, many American states allow the use of golf carts on public roads. Since golf carts are rarely registered, there is very limited data available to get a full understanding of the number of collisions and associated injuries and fatalities, involving their use,” it said. “However, from the data that was available, it was clear that death or injury is highly likely when a vehicle and golf cart collide. This is not unexpected as golf carts are not designed to withstand collisions and do not offer any safety protection for occupants.
“Saskatchewan is already the most lenient jurisdiction in Canada on this matter as no other province allows the use of golf carts on public roads, even in limited use to and from a golf course. While I certainly admire your efforts to make Kamsack an attractive retirement community, public safety must take precedence; as such, we are not prepared to expand the use of golf carts any further at this time.”
McMorris thanked Gardner for the opportunity to meet and discuss his concerns.
“If we can encourage several towns with golf courses in a joint effort to continue the fight, it might work,” Gardner said last week. “If not, then we’ve given it our best shot.”
