For the fourth consecutive year, the all-terrain vehicle club sought permission from Piscataquis County commissioners to use the Borestone Mountain Sanctuary Road to Bodfish Valley and the Onawa Road as connectors to their trail system, and as they have every year, the commissioners denied the requests.

"My mind has not changed in four years," Commissioner Tom Lizotte said at Tuesday’s meeting.

The commissioners agreed Tuesday to continue to allow the club use of a section of the Elliotsville Road as the trail system, but not the requested two miles of the Borestone Road and 3.1 miles of the Onawa Road. No one from the club was represented at the meeting.

Lizotte said he recognized that the club was having some difficulty finding land trails, especially on land owned by conservationist Roxanne Quimby.

The use of all-terrain vehicles on the Borestone Mountain Sanctuary Road to Bodfish Valley Road, a premier hiking trail, is an inappropriate mix of use, according to the commissioners.

As for the Onawa Road, there are safety concerns since the gravel road is narrow, winding and hilly, board members noted. The road is mostly used by people who have camps on Onawa Lake.

Piscataquis County Sheriff John Goggin said he opposed use of the Onawa Road because of the rise in fatalities involving ATVs and motor vehicles. "It’s just a very dangerous road to be on in both those vehicles [at once]," he said.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Discussed the upgrade of the heating system in the Superior Court building. The two-phase improvement project included the replacement or upgrade of the heating controls from pneumatic to electric, the separation of the courthouse wing into two zones to even out the temperature between the two, the addition of a new circulation pump, and the addition of insulation in the attic. It also included the replacement of the obsolete boiler which will be under way soon. Bids will be solicited for either a single boiler or a double boiler.