News

By Dan Moffett

    Briny Breezes council members unanimously voted preliminary approval for an ordinance that would restrict truck traffic on town streets.
    Now the council will have to try to figure out how to enforce it.
    The ordinance prohibits trucks with three or more axles and those with a rated capacity of more than one ton from driving through Briny, including Old Ocean Boulevard, which the state recently turned over to the town.
    But Town Attorney John Skrandel said he will need to research further how to penalize violators. Skrandel said he has contacted other towns with similar laws but hasn’t found much help.
    “When I call and ask them how they’re enforcing their restrictions, nobody knows how,” he said. “Everyone I talked to didn’t know, and a lot of them didn’t even know their law was on the books.”
    Skrandel said it might be possible to use state statutes to penalize violators. Under the state system, a trucker could be fined about $158 for each offense.
    “That would be the simplest way to do it, and the most cost-effective,” Skrandel said.
    Hal Hutchins, the town marshal and Ocean Ridge police chief, told the council he still has reservations about how, on a practical basis, officers will be able to enforce the law.
    “The ordinance is being voted on based on hypotheticals,” he said. The new rules do allow exemptions for truck traffic that provides services to town residents. There are no restrictions on trucks that are delivering goods to Briny homeowners, emergency vehicles, construction vehicles doing work in the town and utility vehicles.
    Council members say the focus of the law is preventing the potential street damage from trucks that are cutting through the town on their way to somewhere else.
    The council will consider approving a final version of the ordinance at the May 26 town meeting.
    In other business, Mike Hill announced he was resigning as mayor and leaving town to live the rest of the year in Illinois, where he’ll “spend more time” with his 11 grandchildren.
    Hill’s wife, Shirley Smith-Hill, died unexpectedly in March at age 66. “Next year I may be back,” Hill said. “But as for 2016, I’m resigning.”
    Council President Sue Thaler said she has appreciated Hill’s expertise as a lawyer and experience as a former elected official in Highland Beach since he became mayor in January 2014.
    Hill agreed to stay involved with the council until it finds a replacement.