MEXICO – Selectmen voted this week against a policy to allow all-terrain vehicles to be ridden on certain roads to reach the downtown area.

At a meeting earlier this month, selectmen agreed to allow ATV riders to drive along Osgood Avenue from Porter Bridge Road to Flood Street, down Flood Street to Carleton Avenue, and along Carleton Avenue to the Swift River bridge, where they could pick up the trail under the bridge.

But that decision was contingent on the outcome of Wednesday night’s public hearing, Selectman George Byam said Thursday evening.

After considerable discussion, most of which was against ATVs being ridden on Osgood Avenue, a motion was made to adopt an ATV policy to allow riders to drive into the downtown along certain roads to get gas, food and other services, but not along Osgood Avenue.

That motion, however, failed by a 2-3 vote, which means there is no ATV access route into the downtown area, Byam said.

In other business, selectmen approved setting $5 as the permit fee for a yard sale. A majority of town meeting voters at Tuesday’s referendum OK’d the creation of a yard-sale ordinance.

Town Manager John Madigan said selectmen OK’d a sign design, which is being printed up on orange cardboard and will have to be used for all yard sales, since it contains ordinance-required information.

Selectmen also authorized police Chief Jim Theriault to buy a 2008 Crown Victoria police cruiser after July 1 to replace a patrol car.