So saner heads prevailed. I would like to say I expected it, but I cant. Because stranger things have happened.
I am referring, of course, to the Regional Conservation Authority board choosing, after a request-for-proposals call that pleased almost no one, the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club over a private operator to manage the 16 kilometres of ski trails that cross its land in the Hiawatha Highlands.
The Authority is still seeking $7,500 for the use of the trails but has dropped its demand for $3,500 for clearing the parking lot of snow, now leaving that to the ski club to handle.
I agree with the dropping of the charge for snow clearing because I thought from the beginning of this unnecessary controversy that clearing of the parking lot should fall to whoever gets to operate the full trail system, which also takes in Kinsmen, MNR and private property.
But I disagree with the $7,500 charge for the use of the trails on authority land, even though two of the authority board members who sit on city council Mayor John Rowswell and Coun. Neil DelBianco will support asking that body to cover it.
The authority claimed the $7,500 was required partially to cover insurance costs, but it would be paying out the money for insurance even if the land lay covered with snow with nobody using it. The ski club has its own liability insurance, up to $5 million, according to club President Kevin Hogan.
The $7,500 charge, as far as I am concerned, means the club would be paying twice for insurance if council doesnt pick up the tab.
Actually, I think council will pick up the tab. After all, it has put a lot of money toward other sports, notably hockey, ball, soccer and downhill skiing, so is only fair that it throws some cross-country skiings way.
And it may just do that. Bob Mihell, who writes for Sault This Week, quoted Rowswell as saying at a public meeting held in the Civic Centre on the ski trails issue last week: With the economy improving locally I believe city council is saying we have an under-utilized asset and its time we put some money into it.
It is time to enhance the commitment of the city and community to develop the potential of the area for skiing and other activities, Rowswell said.
However, that doesnt negate the fact that the $7,500 should not be levied by the authority in the first place.
After all, if the Sault Trailblazers Snowmobile Club can run a trail over Conservation Authority land in the Hiawatha Highlands at no cost, why shouldnt the same courtesy be extended to skiers?
Because they are different, DelBianco told me when I put the question to him in a phone interview last week.
Mihell had raised the interesting anomaly in an earlier story.
Trailblazer Snowmobile Club President Darrell Maahs told him, and then me, that the club did not pay any fee for the use of the authoritys land; its responsibility simply was to maintain the trail, which Maahs estimated was between 10-15 kilometres in length, and have third party liability insurance (it has $10 million in coverage).
We asked that same question of authority staff, DelBianco said. Its a whole different setup. Snowmobiles just cross a small portion of Conservation Authority property (interestingly the small portion of the snowmobile trail, you will note, is close in length to that of the ski trails that were at issue) and they dont have exclusive use. If there is to be exclusive use, it is conservation authority policy to issue a request for proposals.
He said the authority made about $6,000 when Sault Trails and Recreation (STAR, which folded this spring) operated the trail system so authority staff felt since there was value in the land there should be some revenue from it under any new deal.
Since DelBianco was a proponent of the snowmobile trail that would have wound its way through the Fort Creek Conservation Area to the downtown it if hadnt been shot down by council, I asked him what the charge would have been for the use of city and authority land if the project had been approved.
He said there would have been no charge.
We were hoping to get a big enough economic benefit (to make it worthwhile), he said, adding that that had been projected to be about $5 million.
How much would we get from cross country? Its there, but we dont know.
No, we dont. But we really didnt know what the economic benefit would be from a snowmobile trail through the city either. The $5 million was simply an optimistic estimate.
However, skiing has one in the bag. Kevin Hogan, president of the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski club, announced last week that the Michigan Cup committee had voted unanimously to accept the clubs proposal to host a Michigan Cup race during the weekend of Feb. 17-18.
And there could be others. The cross-country Olympic team trained here a couple of times in the mid-90s and Dave Urso, president of the Kinsmen Club, told me earlier that an all-Ontario meet over three days here in February brought 300 kids and close to a million dollars to the community.
Anyway, I think things are now on track. I believe at this point it was better to go with a non-profit group that has a proven track record and access to grants rather than a private operator who, although obviously equipped to do the job, would naturally always have profit in mind and as a result would presumably have to charge skiers a bigger buck to offer the same product.
Doug Millroy is editor emeritus of The Sault Star.
