They say they need them back for the safety of horseback riders
ISHPEMING -- Since Heritage Hills opened about a year ago, owners say they've had to deal with trespassers on their Ishpeming property.
"There's a lot of vandalism out here. There's a lot of people that are not respecting the woods--they're throwing trash. Last year we had someone doing donuts right in the middle of our field," says Joni Gleason, owner of Heritage Hills.
The center offers horseback rides to riders of all skill levels, and they say having motor vehicles driving on the trails is a safety issue. The city responded last year by putting barricades around major intersections of the property. But they recently voted to take the barriers down, claiming they were a liability, inhibited free use of the area, and set a bad precedent that the city would have to maintain barriers protecting private property.
Now, Heritage Hills just has signs up, which they say go ignored.
"It's basically been a free-for-all back here...people taking motor vehicles, four wheelers, and regular cars and trucks, basically booze cruising back here. It's been a party area," Gleason says.
Since the barricades were taken down, police have increased their surveillance of the area. Now one patrol officer is required to be monitoring the area per shift during the daylight hours.
But that's still not enough. Heritage Hills wants the barricades back. And based on how voting went a few weeks ago, that is a possibility.
"The vote was two to two, and so the motion failed at that council meeting so we did not have a full council at the time, and that fifth vote would presumably make the difference, one way or another," says Jared Ottenwess, City Manager.
For now, it remains an unsettled issue until a new motion comes before the council.
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