A task force reviewing the use of snow machines in the city officially got to work Wednesday afternoon with its first meeting.

Slated to review and make recommendations on snow machine use in the city, the task force is made up of representatives from several organizations and a local business.

They include the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, the Ta'an Kwach'an Council, the Yukon Conservation Society, the Riverdale and Porter Creek community associations, the RCMP, Listers Motor Sports, the Klondike Snowmobile Association (which maintains and packs a number of trails through an agreement with the city), the territorial Department of Environment and

the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Wednesday's meeting served as an information-sharing session to look at city documents and policies impacted by the use of machines.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt told reporters that with the latest Official Community Plan (OCP) being adopted last year, the city is now moving ahead with changes to bylaws impacted by the plan. One of those is the Snowmobile Bylaw, adopted in 1972.

The document still refers to motor-toboggans, Shewfelt pointed out as he and bylaw manager Dave Pruden stressed the need for the regulations to better reflect today's priorities.

"The task force is going to be asked to cover several different areas,” Pruden said.

Among them will be public safety, recreational opportunities, noise, environmental protection and motorized and non-motorized trail designations.

Along the city's OCP guidelines, the task force will take into consideration the trail and sustainability plan as well as other legislation like the territory's Motor Vehicles Act.

Following Wednesday's session, another five meetings of the task force will be held to identify the issues, look at any gaps and come up with recommendations for the city.

Part of the work will include considering the results of a DataPath Systems survey on snow machine use.

Shewfelt and Pruden stressed while 90 per cent or more of snow mobilers drive respectfully, the other 10 per cent can create problems.

Depending on the weather and other factors, the bylaw department will generally receive complaints on a weekly basis through the snowmachine season over nuisance driving, noise, speeding and snow machines being driven over lawns and in yards.

The number of complaints coming in often rises around holidays and events like Christmas, the Sourdough Rendezvous and Easter, Pruden said.

Though any recommendations will be up to the task force, Pruden noted in looking at other jurisdictions, there doesn't seem to be anything that can make all the issues go away.

Education, however, seems to be the best way to move toward compliance.

Most people are willing to comply with the regulations, but they have to know what they are, and education through signs and other means are key to that, he suggested.

The city chose the task force to begin its work at the beginning of the year when snow machine use is high and is on people's minds.

The task force will likely bring forward its final report to council in March.

It would then be up to council to decide on any bylaw changes.

It's expected after the snow machine legislation is dealt with, the city would then start looking at its regulations around ATV use, though Pruden could not say exactly when that review would start.