A new ordinance allowing golf carts on Libby streets under certain circumstances received a second reading by city councilors on May 3.

City councilors voted unanimously in favor of the proposal once again, setting off the 30-day countdown until the ordinance goes into effect. Resident William Day, who spearheaded the effort to make golf carts allowable on city roads on behalf of a local disabled man, expressed gratitude.

“I just want to thank the [council] and the mayor for all you went through,” Day said.

It took proponents three tries to get the ordinance passed. The current iteration limits use of golf carts to those considered physically disabled under state code.

Golf cart users must procure liability insurance and outfit the vehicles with safety devices, like lamps, reflectors, a horn and mirror. Users also need a driver’s license and the cart must get registered through the state.

As for moving around town, the carts are banned from U.S. Highway 2 and state Highway 37, and from all roads between sunset and sunrise. Carts can cross U.S. Highway 2, but only at the intersections of Sixth Street and Louisiana and Idaho avenues. As for Highway 37, crossing is limited to Third Street or Lincoln Boulevard.

An earlier iteration banned the carts from Mineral Avenue completely, but the updated version allows the vehicles between First Street and Lincoln Boulevard.

The two preceding — and nixed — versions of the ordinance opened golf carts up to any licensed drivers in Libby. City officials took a narrower focus to the proposal after resident Oliver Orak, the man at the center of the effort to legalize the vehicles, threatened to take to city streets with his golf cart regardless of permission.

Orak cited the Americans with Disabilities Act as the basis for him being allowed to use a vehicle of his choice to navigate city streets. While City Attorney Dean Chisholm suggested Orak was operating off of bad legal advice, city councilors agreed to take a third look at the proposal, urging him to hold off until then.

Orak was in attendance May 3, sitting alongside Day as city councilors cast their second round of votes.

The ordinance makes “it more convenient for [Orak] to get around and anyone else who wishes to use that as an alternative means of transportation,” said Mayor Brent Teske.

Teske inquired about efforts to secure a driver’s license for Orak and state registration for his vehicle. Day told city councilors that a temporary registration is in the works.

Once the cart is registered, Orak can take his driver’s test in the vehicle, Day said. He said the process has been complicated because it’s one the state has not undertaken often in the past, if at all.