Francestown will look into developing an ordinance regarding the use of off-highway recreational vehicles, or OHRVs, after a resident raised concerns with the town.

Town Administrator Jamie Pike said on Tuesday that creating the ordinance will be a “long and very public process.”

“We are only just taking the first step at starting to look at this issue after a resident brought some concerns to our attention,” Pike said. “There will be a public hearing at some point down the road, and it will all be a very transparent process.”

Pike said at the Monday night Select Board meeting that he has begun looking into how other towns handle OHRVs on town roads and highways.

“I had a lengthy conversation with (Francestown Police) Chief Philbert last week. He is a police officer in Hillsborough, which has this ordinance on the books, and he lives in Henniker, which is the other town which has this on the books, and he is fully in favor of putting this on the books in Francestown. He knows a lot of people using OHRVs on the roads, and the police only go after them when there is an issue and people are being unsafe,” Pike said.

Pike said that Henniker was the first town in the region to develop an OHRV ordinance.

“Henniker was the first one to write an ordinance, and then Hillsborough and Washington copied Henniker,” Pike said.

At their meeting Monday night, the Francestown Select Board discussed next steps for developing an ordinance specifically for Francestown, including consulting with the police department, the fire department, the DPW, and the town’s Conservation Committee.

“Let’s get anyone who would like to talk about this together to discuss it, ” said Select Board Chair Karen Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said the potential impact of OHRV use in conservation areas and wetlands is a concern for the town.

“They aren’t always populated, as roads, to the point where you would know who was doing what,” Fitzgerald said. “Conservation areas are concerning to me. The policing is going to be the thing. We won’t know until they have been in there, and then no one knows who was in there.”

The board discussed the impact of OHRVs on Class 4, 5, and 6 roads, particularly during mud season and wet weather.

“There aren’t a whole lot of Class 6 roads that I would like to see these vehicles on,” Pike said.