After making a 14-page submission last month to the task force set up to look at the snowmobile bylaw, long-time outdoors enthusiast Keith Lay appeared before council Monday night taking issue with how the city is considering changes.

"Public input should come at the beginning of the (review), not at the end,” he said.

Instead, the city has formed a task force made up of a number of interest groups, including the Klondike Snowmobile Association, the Yukon Conservation Society, local retailers and others to consider the decades-old bylaw.

It's a situation Lay argues is inappropriate, as it implies the city is more likely to listen to special interest groups rather than the public.

Lay made his own unsolicited submission on the review. However, he pointed out the general public has not yet been asked for their opinions on the matter, something that should have been requested from the start.

"You get the best from everyone,” he told council. Not involving the general public at the beginning is almost like saying citizens have no intelligence on the bylaw, he said.

"Surely, we should have the most information at the beginning,” he said. He was responding to Coun. Doug Graham, who wondered if Lay thinks it's easier to get public comment when citizens have a document showing what is being proposed.

As Lay pointed out, the current bylaw has been in place since 1972, and there should be no problem in getting residents' opinion on how it should be changed early in the review.

The city isn't expected to begin its general public comment period until next month, when the second phase of the project begins. However, a random survey of 209 residents was conducted by DataPath Systems in the matter earlier this year.

Designed to be statistically accurate, the survey was only offered to those randomly selected for it.

Questioned by Coun. Betty Irwin about whether he was familiar with it, Lay said he was. While the survey results are "nice to have,” he said, it didn't provide an opportunity for the entire community to comment.

In his earlier submission, Lay noted it's too early for a city task force to be set up, given the Yukon government's own review of off-road vehicle use.

He also told officials snowmobiles shouldn't be allowed in any protected areas within the city, and fines should be stiffened to discourage riders from breaking the bylaw.

Lay also took issue with the lack of enforcement on both the current bylaw and territorial regulations. He suggested driver training should be required, and pointed to a number of city policies he believes are in conflict with allowing off-road vehicles on multi-use trails.

Information provided to the media by the city Monday shows the first phase of the review with the task force is expected to wrap up next month.

It's in the second phase happening between mid-April and May that public consultation will be the main focus, with media briefings and an April 20 public open house to present the task force's key points for consideration.

A public comment period until May 5 will follow before a background report is written, compiling all the information collected from stakeholders and the general public.

The bylaw is expected to be developed between June and August in the final phase of the review.

During that period, council will be presented with the background report, and a further review of snowmobile legislation in other jurisdictions will be done. A bylaw will be drafted and put out for public review before it's formally brought to council.

If council approvees first reading of the bylaw, a public hearing would be held where residents could again relay any concerns directly to council, which would then consider the final two readings.

It's planned that the new bylaw would be adopted in time for the next snowmobile season.