RUSSELL ? Confronted with sketchy laws about all-terrain vehicles and rising complaints about some ATV drivers’ skills, the Russell City Council is considering banning them from city streets.

The council plans to review a proposed ordinance at its next study session and could act on the measure at its next meeting, in mid-July.

Police Chief Jerry Vaughn, who wrote the draft ordinance with City Atty. Ken Cole, has carried the document with him to every city council meeting since the issue first surfaced in November.

Comments and concerns about ATVs have become a regular part of council meetings since then.

“I think we created a monster,” said Councilwoman Carol Boxberger.

Boxberger and other council members noted that reports of erratic ATV driving have flooded the phone lines of local law enforcement.

Vaughn told the council he had lost count of the number of complaints he had received in the past few months on the topic. Residents have also called Paul Phillips, elected to the council this spring, to complain.

Phillips reported seeing one woman drive down a street with a small child on the back of an ATV and a baby on her lap.

State law defines an ATV as a motorized vehicle that is less than 45 inches wide, weighs 650 pounds or less and is operated on three or more low-pressure tires with a seat that is straddled by its operator.

But Vaughn owns an ATV-like vehicle that exceeds the state’s definition by one inch in width and 40 pounds in weight. No state law applies specifically to Vaughn’s vehicle.

Vaughn said ATVs as defined by the state are the only motorized vehicle allowed on public streets without insurance coverage.

Another northwest Kansas community has already addressed the issue.

The city of Victoria banned ATVs from its streets under a state law limiting the places where people can drive a vehicle that has at least one tire stamped “not for highway use,” “for racing purposes only” or “unsafe for highway use.”

Meanwhile, Vaughn said, the Plainville Police Department has asked for a copy of Russell’s draft ordinance.