K&P Trail Permit Discussion Gets Complicated

Jeff Green | Nov 27, 2024

At the meeting last week, Frontenac County Council considered a proposal to set up an arrangement with the Frontenac ATV Club requiring that all ATVs that use the K&P Trail provide proof of membership in the club or “another authorised partner organisation”.

The arrangement, if approved, would have resulted in a payment of a minimum of $21,160, and an in-kind contribution bringing the total value to the county of $35,000 each year.

The proposal included a provision for Frontenac County to make an identical offer to the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA), a motorised trail maintenance and marketing organisation, based in Tweed, that has had an historic relationship with both Central and North Frontenac. 

A similar proposal came to Frontenac County Council two years ago. At that time the proposal was deferred in an effort to see if the Frontenac ATV Club, its larger affiliate the Ontario Federation of ATV Clubs, and EOTA could agree on a one pass system for ATV’s on Frontenac County trails.

That agreement has been hard to accomplish, and instead Allen brought this proposal to council, hoping to have it in place for the beginning of the ATV season on April 1, 2025.

All the money would offset maintenance costs to Frontenac County for the trail.

The debate at the council table demonstrated how many varied issues there are when it comes to trail permit fees. 

The representatives from South Frontenac, Councillor Ray Leonard and Mayor Ron Vandewal wanted to talk about the definition of what a motorised vehicle is. While the agreement would be with the ATV club, they wanted dirt bikes and electric bicycles to be included.

“A motor is a motor,” said Ray Leonard.

Ray Knapp, President of the Frontenac ATV Club, who made a presentation earlier in the meeting, said that he agreed that all motorised vehicles should be included, but said he could only address ATV use because those are the only riders that his club represents.

Speaking from the perspective of North Frontenac, which operates a fee for use program for motorised vehicles on roads and trails on Crown Lands in his township, Warden (and North Frontenac Mayor) Gerry Lichty said that the county should consider its own permit system, allowing for annual permits for trail use in the range of $35 per year, while accepting membership in either club as an alternative to the county permit system.  It costs $150 for an annual membership in the Frontenac ATV Club, and $35 of that money would go to Frontenac County.

“From an economic development perspective,” Lichty said, “it is a lot to ask a family of four who wants to vacation in North Frontenac and bring a couple of ATVs with them, to pay $150 for each ATV just to use the trail”.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers, asked that the economic development department calculate the annual maintenance and capital replacement cost for the K&P Trail, and come back with a proposal to cover all those costs, “so ratepayers do not have to subsidise the few who enjoy using a motorised trail.”

She also questioned the economic development value of the trail.

“It’s not a trail like the Appalachian Trail, or even the Bruce Trail,” she said.

With questions piling up, a motion to defer the matter until staff could clarify a number of issues, was put forward by Gerry Lichty.

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith, spoke against the deferral, saying the arrangement with the Frontenac ATV Club should be accepted now, because the money is already on offer. She also countered Judy Greenwood-Speers contention that the trail does not drive economic development.

“We have $35,000 on offer. Why should we turn that down? And I just want to say that when people use the trail, they spend money in our township. On a winter day, when there is snow, Bob Basra's [Sharbot Lake Petro Can] parking lot is full, and those people spend money in our township.”

The motion to defer was approved, by a vote of 5-3.

Richard Allen said he would attempt to bring back the information that Council required, in time to bring a system in place for the 2025 season, but that setting up a Frontenac County permit system could not be done by April 1, 2025.