Cresco, IA- The leaders of a North Iowa county say they won't become the second to pass an ordinance banning steel wheels on roads.
The Howard County board of supervisors tabled the issue indefinitely.
They considered an ordinance similar to the one recently passed in Mitchell County outlawing farmers from driving machinery with steel wheels on roads.
It’s a tradition of the Old Order Mennonite community.
The board's chair says a report from the county's engineer helped with the decision.
"When we asked him at our meeting to come up with any dollar figure or instances where damage has been done to the roads that we maintain in Howard County from the Steel Wheel vehicles he said he couldn't come up with any,” said Howard County Supervisor Adolf Mick Gamez.
He says a discussion with the Mennonite community also had an impact on the board’s action.
"I was under the belief that the religion and the traditions were two different factors, but as they explained in our meeting they are actually one, their traditions and their religious beliefs are intertwined quite closely."
Supervisors say they could re-visit the issue if the wheels start causing significant damage.
