Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
PALMER RAPIDS – Peterson Pathfinders Snowmobile Club (PPSC) made a new presentation to council for Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan (BLR) at its Aug. 7 meeting for a trail extension in the township. Coun. Iris Kauffeldt declared a conflict on the issue and was not present for the presentation or the vote.
BLR council defeated a motion, on a tie vote, for a previous trail extension proposal at its July meeting. PPSC president Stefan Woyslaw presented a new proposal to council in August.
Woyslaw said he was disappointed in the vote result from the July meeting and felt the club had addressed all of the concerns from the public in its proposal. Woyslaw discussed the history of municipal road allowances and use. He also spoke to the two petitions that were presented to council. “We brought 158 (signatures) to the positive to a smaller group of only a little over 70 and a couple of councillors decided to go with the lower group, which was quite surprising.”
He said council denied the requested road allowance of 2.5 kilometres, “but you didn’t deny the OFSC (Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs) from making the trail and being connected to Quadeville.”
PPSC, since the last meeting, received notice of a successful grant application for $39,000. The FedDev Ontario grant is for construction of the trail extension. The OFSC will match the FedDev grant, giving the club nearly $80,000. “And the trail is going to go through Quadeville now,” Woyslaw stated. He said that, under OFSC guidelines, the club will, “come out of our 170 trail now and continue on the road as we had agreed and we will either go all the way to Guiney Road from Jewelville Road and straight down Guiney Road or Guiney Road to the highway, cross the highway and we’re going to go to Eneas Creek Road and turn around there. And under natural corridor trail, the trail will be signed to right through Quadeville and connect to Cameron Lake Road to match up with Griffith.” He said a condition of the grant is that the trails connect to create a loop for riders and tourists. Woyslaw said that was one option.
The second option, “is what we’re requesting tonight be cause we all agreed that we didn’t want the sleds going directly through Quadville and on the tarmac and going by everybody’s driveways…that we’re going to put the trail down Eneas Creek Road and the open up the Cameron Lake Road allowance of 1.4 kilometres to connect to Griffith.
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