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Lewis County committee proposes raising motorized-event insurance threshold, adding OHV trail-permit requirement
Summary
County staff proposed revising the local event-permit rule so organized motorized-vehicle events would not require event insurance until attendance exceeds 2,000; instead organizers would be required to verify individual vehicle insurance through a county OHV trail permit and sign waivers.
Tim (staff member) presented proposed changes to Lewis County's special-event permit rules, focusing on events involving motorized vehicles.
Tim said the current rule requiring event organizers to carry insurance for any all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) event over 500 people is “problematic” because “right now any event ATV event over 500 requires insurance and no 1 can get that insurance.” He proposed raising the organizer-insurance threshold to 2,000 participants for motorized events while keeping notification and permit requirements in place.
Under Tim's proposal, "Events with motorized vehicles only. You would remove the insurance requirement. There would still be a notification requirement and a permit requirement, but they would also be required to have a Lewis County trail permit so that we know that each individual vehicle is insured and that they've signed a waiver," he said. He added that “the organizer of the event would not need insurance unless the event is over 2,000 participants.”
County staff and legislators discussed liability, enforcement and practical verification. A county attorney said an indemnity provision would remain in the agreement requiring sponsors to "be responsible for the activities of their participants" and to "hold us harmless in the event of any claim," and that if a participant had insurance they would be required "to name us as an additional insured." The attorney also said the county would still seek to know whether participants have insurance even if the organizer is not required to purchase event insurance below the 2,000 threshold.
Committee members said enforcement is the principal difficulty. Tim acknowledged enforcement challenges and noted the county has continued to see large gatherings despite the 500-person rule because organizers cannot obtain the required insurance. He noted that once attendance reaches very large numbers (for example 5,000), state mass-gathering resources could become involved and local first-responder demands increase.
Legislators and staff discussed operational options to verify participant coverage: requiring online pre-registration with a field for an OHV trail-permit number; cross-checking organizer sign-up lists with county permit records; issuing a QR code tied to the county trail-permit system for event day verification; and allowing county staff or vendor partners to sell trail permits at event registration when needed.
Tim said he would draft a red-line version of the existing local law showing the proposed changes and return to the committee for further review. Committee members agreed to draft language for consideration at a future meeting.
Ending: The committee asked staff to prepare proposed local-law language incorporating the 2,000-person insurance threshold for motorized events and a county OHV trail-permit verification requirement and to return the redline for committee review before formal introduction.
