Faced with strong community pushback to an ordinance that would limit e-bike and e-scooter drivers to 14-year-olds and up, the borough assembly postponed action and scheduled a town hall meeting on the issue for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at the Nolan Center.

“The public is encouraged to attend and speak to the proposed ordinance,” the meeting announcement said.

The ordinance would require that operators have a driver’s license or learner’s permit. The state-issued permits are available in Alaska to anyone at least 14 years old.

The assembly considered the new rules at its meeting May 27 and heard from several members of the public opposed to the age limit.

Nikka Mork called the ordinance “overreach,” suggesting safety training for users instead of the minimum age and fines.

“We’re not a major city with heavy traffic,” she said.

Mandy Janssen said her son, soon to turn 13 years old, saved up to buy an e-scooter. “I feel like there is a better way to go than completely taking away from kids,” she said. “It would be sad to have to take this away from him.”

She added, “Living in Wrangell, there’s not much for these kids to do already.”

Alicia Stearns said her daughter, 13, also saved up and used her own money to buy an e-scooter. Stearns said she would prefer a safety-education program rather than setting the minimum age at 14.

“We love our freedoms,” Bernie Massin told the assembly on May 27. “We don’t need to start restricting stuff.”

State law does not require e-scooter or e-bike users to have a driver’s license.

Jeanie Arnold testified against the ordinance, calling it “unduly prohibitive.” Noting that her 11-year-old rides an e-scooter, Arnold said, “age alone is not the sole determinate” of whether a youngster is a responsible rider.

“Now that we know there is a concern from the public, we’d better address it,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said during discussion of postponing the assembly vote on the ordinance and calling a town hall meeting.

“The community needs to come out,” Assembly Member Phillip Mach said, adding that the assembly needs to hear from all sides on the issue.

The vote to postpone action was unanimous. The assembly had first considered the ordinance at its May 13 meeting.

Police Chief Gene Meek told the assembly May 27 that the department gets a lot of calls during the summer months about riders going too fast or creating safety hazards.

The assembly also postponed a vote on a separate ordinance that would establish fines for violating e-bike and e-scooter laws, including $75 for failure to wear a helmet and $75 for speeding.

Assembly Member David Powell, a retired EMT, spoke about personally responding to bicyclist accidents, adding that he does not want to take the risk that the assembly did nothing to help prevent the next accident.

“I may be 62 years old, but I remember my youth,” Powell said of young riders and their riding habits.

He said the town hall meeting is an opportunity to consider the pros and cons of regulating electric bikes and scooters. “We’re here to make our town safe and our children safe.”

In an interview after the May 27 assembly meeting, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said the borough is likely to propose changes to the ordinance, possibly lowering the minimum age to 12 years old.

In addition to setting a minimum age and license requirements, the proposed ordinance would ban riders from schools, parks, playgrounds, trails, sidewalks, docks, the golf course, cemeteries and other public spaces, and helmets would be required for riders under 18.

The speed limit for e-bikes and scooters would be 10 mph downtown (City Dock to the Inner Harbor), and 15 mph elsewhere in town.

Though they postponed action on two ordinances regulating “micromobility devices,” the assembly unanimously approved a third ordinance that will regulate businesses that operate self-serve, freestanding rental stations — they would need to obtain a borough license and maintain proof of liability insurance.

The requirements will apply to businesses that allow renters to pick up and drop off e-bikes and scooters at random locations around town.