Elliot Lake Cit Council approved a staff recommendation to work on a memorandum of understanding with a local group to maintain some 30 to 40 kilometres of trails around the city.
The agreement would be with the Elliot Lake XC Ski & Bike Club to prepare a memorandum of understanding that details a working relationship between the club and the city with respect to the care and maintenance of intercity trails.
Coincidentally the request was raised at a local townhall Recreation and Cultural public meeting where the issue of trail maintenance was raised.
The city already has an agreement with the club where it maintains a portion of the Spine Beach ski trail. The tripartite memorandum of understanding between the city, Retirement Living, and the Elliot Lake XC Ski & Bike Club defined a working relationship between the parties where the club took on operations, care and maintenance of the Spine Beach cross-country ski trail for the winter season of 2023.
After a successful season, all three parties wished to extend this agreement through to May of 2026, and Council resolved to do so on April 11, 2023.
“The club now has expressed an interest in entering a similar agreement with the city, which would see them adopt a similar role for a number of existing trail routes throughout the city,” the report which council approved stated.
The agreement being considered would include the trail from Westview Park to Spine Beach.
On January 12, 2023, Council resolved to enter a tripartite memorandum of understanding between the City, Retirement Living, and the Elliot Lake XC Ski & Bike Club to define a working relationship between the parties where the club took on operations, care and maintenance of the Spine Beach cross country ski trail for the winter season of 2023.
After a successful season, all three parties wished to extend this agreement through to May of 2026, and Council resolved to do so on April 11, 2023.
The club now has expressed an interest in entering a similar agreement with the city, which would see them adopt a similar role for a number of existing trail routes throughout the city.
Currently, these trails are under-maintained. The municipality has relied on volunteer groups such as the Courier De Bios and others to perform minor maintenance on these trails causing a potential liability issue. As well, having an organized volunteer group to assist with trail maintenance would relieve some logistical pressure on Staff relating to the care of the trail system, the report states.
From a tourism perspective, having a group actively maintain, identify and become stewards of the city’s trails would only assist in establishing Elliot Lake as a premier walking/hiking destination while greatly limiting the municipality’s capital investment to do so.
“There are several details that need to be addressed to define the particulars of such a relationship, but it is staff's opinion that the proposed MOU is an opportunity to build a sense of community stewardship for the trail system and is an appropriate way to support this user group,” the report noted.