ATV Club Wants To Expand Motorised Trail To Harrowsmith

Jeff Green | Apr 26, 2023

Dust suppression an issue in Verona.

Marc Moeys, the founder and president of the Verona ATV Club appeared before Frontenac County Council at their regular monthly meeting in Sydenham last week (Wednesday, April 19). He talked about the relationship that the 250 member club has developed over the last four years with Frontenac County, over maintenance and monitoring along the motorised section of the trail that runs from the trailhead in Verona, north to Clarendon Station in Central Frontenac, where the Ottawa Valley ATV Club takes over.

“I live on the trail myself,” said Moeys, “I run it, I walk it, I cycle it, and about 2 times a week I 4-wheel on it.”

He said that his club members help supplement county efforts regarding trail maintenance, and they ride the trail wearing identifiable clothing and approach ATV trail users when there is an opportunity to encourage safe usage of the trail and to encourage them to join the club, and the Ontario Association of ATV (OATV) Club, which the Verona ATV Club is affiliated with.

Although membership is not necessary for ATVs using the K&P north of Verona in Frontenac County or along the east-west Trans Canada trail along Hwy. 7, it is necessary once the trail hits the Renfrew County border, where it connects with a network of trails that are managed by the OATV.

Moeys said that it would be a benefit to his club's membership if Frontenac County changed its policy and required membership in order for ATVs to use the trail.

“We do what we can with the dues that we collect from our 250 members, but we could do a lot more, and save money for the county, if we had 1,000 members, for example,” he said.

Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender pointed out, for Council's benefit, that last year Frontenac County appointed a special committee, headed by Wayne Robinson of Sharbot Lake, to look at ATV passes on the trail.

The committee was needed because the Ontario Association of ATV Clubs as well the Tweed based Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance both manage their own trail networks in the region and have their own pass systems. An integrated pass would be preferable for all ATV trail users in the region, but while work is ongoing, that has not happened yet.

“That’s one of the reason why. under council direction, there is no pass required for ATVs on the K&P Trail,” Pender said.

The main reason for Moey's appearance before Council was to request an extension of ATV usage of the trail south to Harrowsmith, where the K&P Trail meets the Cataraqui Trail.

“What's in Harrowsmith? Pizza, Gilmour's, which we all love, and gas, which is important for ATV people. If we could then approach the Cat Trail people about accessing their trail to the west, we could get to the trails in Lennox and Addington.”

Warden Ron Vandewal said “I want to first thank the Verona ATV club for the invaluable service you are providing, it's very valuable to the trail system and a great partnership, and we do appreciate it. When notices of motion are going to be served later in the meeting, we have a councillor who is going to move a notice of motion about your proposal, and then it will go to a committee and they will be bringing it back for us to look at, sometime in the future. It will not be dealt with today, but the process gets underway.”

Vandewal also pointed out that the Cataraqui Trail management, and users to the east of Harrowsmith, have clearly expressed that they “are not interested in considering making that section of trail motorised.”

Later in the meeting, Councillor Ray Leonard, the second South Frontenac representative on the council, put forward a notice of motion regarding referring the matter to committee. Leonard's motion will be brought to the May meeting.

Before that, however, another matter regarding ATVs on the K&P was raised, dust suppression. A report on some of the issues and proposed solutions.

“In periods of hot and dry weather, this heavy weekend use can create dust and have negative impacts on quality of life for neighbours of the trail, making it difficult to enjoy outdoor activities on their properties. Staff have also noticed an overall increase of dust in recent years, as weather events become more extreme,” said the report, which focusses on the Verona section of the trail, which is where most of the official complaints about dust have been coming from.

The report proposes, with labour provided by the Verona ATV club, to increase the amount of dust suppressing calcium Chloride that the county already applies on the trail, at a cost to the county of an extra $6,000, in addition to the $15,000, that will be spent to apply calcium chloride once this summer along the entire trail. Targeted areas in Verona would receive 6 treatments instead of one.

The report also discusses options for paving at intersections with major roads, as well as paving the entire trail through Verona, pointing out some of the concerns raised by paving, including cost.

In response to the motion stemming from the report for the county to work with the Verona ATV club on dust suppression, Councillor Niki Gowdy (Central Frontenac) said she thinks looking at improved dust suppression along the whole trail would be advisable rather than only looking at Verona.

“That's where the official complaints have come from,” said Ron Vandewal.

Gowdy's proposal to consider the whole trail in addition to the Verona 'hotspots' that the ATV club will address, was included in the motion, which passed. Gowdy's proposal to consider the whole trail in addition to the Verona 'hot spots' that the ATV club will address, was included in the motion, which passed.