News | 2021
A Taste of the Kawarthas
Check out this issue of A Taste of Kawarthas Magazine! Our own president Carolyn Richards has a regular column in every issue where she talks about off-roading and the KATVA/KORMA trails but this issue is even more exciting because we received a shout out from the featured interviewees Elvis Stojko and Dean McDermott. We can’t wait to see them back on our trails in 2022.
Council to vote on Tuesday, December 14, 2021
During a Special Committee of the Whole meeting called by the mayor on November 16, a report was brought forward to Council regarding the remaining recommendations from the Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Task Force that addressed proposed ATV connection routes for the areas of Bobcaygeon, Cameron, Janetville, Omemee and Pontypool. Routes to link the following communities to the trails were brought forward during the meeting and will be coming back to Council on December 14 for further discussion and/or final approval:
Pontypool, Janetville and Omemee – Council recommended the proposed routes for Pontypool, Janetville and Omemee as written.
Cameron– Council requested that amendments be made to the proposed route for Cameron.
Bobcaygeon – The proposed route for Bobcaygeon was not recommended for approval. We will let you know what our plans are to go back at this at a later date.
Lindsay – Council recommended the proposal of adding Kenrei Road and Thunder Bridge Road.
To see maps of the proposed routes please click on the following link: https://icreate7.esolutionsgroup.ca/…/Proposed…
To view the November 16th meeting and watch the debate regarding these routes as well as the deputations against them please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmqgsF9JQXc&t=3127s…
Once again, we need your help. Please take the time to email council and ask them for their support on this Two Year Trial Project. Please send your email to council@kawarthalakes.caAs always please be respectful and positive and remember that they will be voting on this Tuesday December 14th so please make sure you reach out to council by Monday.
Once again, thank you for your time.
The KATVA Team
We want to remind everyone that the ATV route through Lindsay that was passed by Council last month does not take effect until May 2022. It would be disappointing to lose the privilege before we even have a chance to get started, especially after putting in so many years of hard work.
It will only take one or two photos of ATVs riding through Lindsay between now and May for this trial project to be shut down. Once the trial period starts it will be important that riders follow the rules and stay on the designated routes. There is a level of hypervigilance by the anti ATV group looking for people to break the rules either by mistake or intentionally so that they can build a case to shut this route and all other road access down. This route is also not an open ticket to ride from your home to the trail. It’s a very specific route being used to test the ability of ATVs and other vehicles to share the roads in the town of Lindsay. If the trial period is successful then we will work with council and staff to try and open up more roads, but we have to police ourselves and hold ourselves accountable first.This is also a reminder that no roads other than those already open and the designated routes passed by council will be opened up to ATVs. That most definitely includes Highway 35 as it is a provincial highway and will never be open to ATV use in the City of Kawartha Lakes. You are also never allowed to ride in the ditch or grassy shoulder of a road in Ontario. If the road is open to ATV use you must first be on the shoulder if it’s safe to do so, or on the actual road.
We do appreciate all the messages we received about the post. It shows us that many members are taking this seriously and are prepared to help us make this a success. Mistakes happen so we all need to work together to educate our riding community.
If you have any questions please feel free to PM one of the admins if you aren’t comfortable posting them publicly.
The swing bridge in Fenelon Falls has now been turned but this is a reminder that ATVs are not allowed on the bridge or in Garnet Graham Park. Please respect the residents who are using the park by staying out of it with your ATV. The bridge and paved pathways are for non-motorized use only however it’s part of the snowmobile trail in winter.
We want to thank Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club crew Larry Hulsman, Mark Johnson, Steve McCaughey, Bob Simpson, and Steve Pillsworth for taking the lead on replacing a culvert on trail 47 . This project’s cost was shared by TMSC, KATVA, and OF4WD.
Exciting News!
The 2 year trial period for a proposed route through Lindsay passed at today’s council meeting by a vote of 5 to 4 in favor. This has been 10 years in the making and we’re finally here thanks to the hard work by the members of the ORV Task force and the councilors who voted in favour:Councilor Pat DunnCouncilor Tracy RichardsonCouncilor Kathleen Seymour FaganCouncilor Ron AshmoreCouncilor Emmett YeoIf you click on the link below it will take you right to where the issue is discussed at council. Something important to note is that it was really the emails that our members and visiting riders sent to council this past weekend that made the difference for some of the councilors and you’ll hear that in the meeting.
It’s very important that you understand that this is not opening up ALL the roads in the town of Lindsay, only a designated route and although this has passed through council it does not take effect until May 1st, 2022.
It’s incredibly important that you understand and comply with this. We here at KATVA need this time to work with city staff on signage, safety awareness and public education so that we can make sure this trial project is a success. In the meantime please stay off the roads in Lindsay. We will provide our members with a map of the route that and other important information well before the opening of the 2022 riding season.
We made this happen, now it’s up to you to make sure it becomes permanent. Stewardship and self-policing will be the keys to our success.
Hunting Season is Open.
Wear bright colours, stay close to the main trails and ride with a buddy.
Always ride safe!
#hunting #kawarthalakes #ridesafe #trails #atv #sxs #dirtbikes #KATVA #KORMA
As previously mentioned, the City of Kawartha Lakes has hired consultants to review the Trails Master Plan which was last done in 2006.
A lot has changed in those 15 years, including our sport. The growth in ATV riders and the introduction of SxS has presented some challenges to everyone from city staff and KATVA to all trail users, both motorized and non-motorized. We know there will likely be a move by local residents during this process to ban ATVs and snowmobiles from the section of rail trail from Thunderbridge Rd to Ken Rei Road in Lindsay as well as the section from Fenelon Falls (Garnet Graham Park) to Northline Rd.
We will be a part of this process and as always we will do our part, but it’s important that you do your part as well. If you follow the link below you will see that there are several ways to participate in the process including a survey, discussion board, question tab and interactive map. Please complete the survey in the very least but also the discussion board as you will soon see that almost every comment in the discussion board is against ATVs already. Please do not waste any time arguing with those who have already posted comments. You will never win an argument against people who are so biased, instead please post your own positive comments about how you enjoy the trails with your family and friends. If you use the trails not only for ATVing but other activities such as walking and cycling please make that known. If you ride an ATV because you can’t enjoy the trails any other way for physical reasons or riding is important to your mental health as it is for some of us, please make that known as well whether it’s through the discussion board or a private email to the consultants and city staff. Their emails are on the page. There is also an interactive map where you can drop pins to mention your favorite parts of the trail. Make sure you make it known how much you enjoy riding into Fenelon Falls on the trail.
Please no matter what be respectful and take the high ground. We have a great working relationship with the municipal staff and have a tremendous respect for them. They have a tough job and will never make everyone happy so let’s show them our respect for what they do for us and their hard work because they have always been respectful dealing with us. Sell them on keeping the trails open to EVERYONE as it should be. Give us something to work with on your behalf to save our use of the trails and possibly open up access to more trails in the future. We will be sending this out to all our members via email and we will post it on our business page for you to share as well.
The KATVA Team.
Work has begun resurfacing the VRTC from Burnt River north to the Crego Creek bridge. As you can see there is lots of heavy equipment on the trail so please try to avoid the area until the work is complete. We’ll keep you posted.
The new Moving Ontarians More Safely Act affects off road vehicles so please take the time to read and understand these changes to the stunt driving laws as they apply to trails, parking lots and private property. Here’s a link to a discussion about how the changes affect off road vehicles:https://driving.ca/…/how-do-recent-changes-to-ontario…Here’s a direct link to the act as written: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/s21026
Feel free to discuss these changes here on this page but we will not tolerate any negative comments about law enforcement or bullying of those whose opinions differ from yours.
KATVA Trail 50 in the 5-Points closes October 1st. Once again, it is time to respect our landowner’s wishes and stay off Trail 50 so they may enjoy their property without ATV or SXS traffic. The trail will reopen next riding season. Please respect their decision and avoid this trail – you can get around Trail 50 by taking Crystal Lake Rd.
#keeptrailsopen #bypass #strongrelationships #respectonthetrails #katva #FivePoints #5points #kawarthaatvassociation #kawartha #trails #atv #sxs #closed #huntingseason #landowner
Come camping with us next year at @sidturcotteparkcampground in Mattawa July 10-16, 2022. They have cabin rentals and tent & trailer camping available. ATV / SXS / dirt bike friendly for riding from your site to the Voyageur Multi Use Trail System-VMUTS and lots of fun activities for the whole family. Sites book up fast – book directly with the campground at 705-744-5375. Tell them you are with KATVA and they will try to group us together.
KATVA Trail 45 (BDSC trail E108) between between 56 & 57 has now reopened. The new bridge is in but the railings won’t be installed until next week so use caution. This project was coordinated and funded by the Buckhorn and District Snowmobile Club and the OFSC. Thank you to the contractors and volunteers from BDSC for all their hard work.#bdsc#ofsc#trailpartnerships#5pointstrailsystem
Dwayne Kish, a valued KATVA board member, volunteer, family and friend passed away on August 7th. Dwayne had asked that any donations in his memory be made to KATVA for the purpose of expanding the CASI youth ATV safety training program to benefit our members children and grandchildren.Thanks to the generosity of Dwayne’s family, friends and our members we have received $1,700 to date. We will spend the next few months working on a plan to distribute the funds to benefit the students who take the course starting in spring 2022. We will also look at ways to continue building the legacy fund so that we can train as many youth as possible over the years to come. With your help we will honour Dwayne’s last wishes and continue Dwayne Kish’s legacy. Thank you!If you are interested in contributing to this fund, you may donate here: https://kaa13.wildapricot.org/Donations/
Important Notice about trail maintenance…On Monday September 20th our contractors will start working on the VRTC section from Burnt River north to the Crego Creek bridge. The full job will include digging down the trail, bringing in new material and resurfacing it but we are being held up by the company providing the locates so the contractor will start with cleaning up some of the less damaged portions of the trail while we wait on the locates.The trail may be closed for periods of time during the day while they are working but we have no way of knowing which days and for how long because it’s all very weather dependent and conditions can change on a daily basis this time of year. Please be patient and use extreme caution when riding in the area until the job is finished. We’ll keep you as well informed as we can of the progress.#katva #korma #membershipdollarshardatwork
September 23rd to 26th: the Corduroy Enduro Race is taking place in the Somerville Forest, the Victoria Rail Trail and the Five Points trail system. Most of their riding will be on the single track trails, but there will be times when they are on the shared use trails. We ask that you try to avoid using the trails between the dates of September 23rd to 26th and if you do use the trails please use extreme caution.There will be volunteers on the trails to help control traffic and keep all trail users safe. Please follow their directions.Share the trails and ride safe…..#corduroyenduro#race#fivepoints#5points#trails#staysafe#ridesafe#KATVA#KORMA#dirtbikes#atv#sxs#kawarthalakes#haliburton
Lindsay Road Route Update – In case you missed the Committee of the Whole meeting on September 7th, you can watch the meeting through the link below.
In the meeting councilor Veale made a motion to look at building a recreational bridge over the Scugog River to redirect ATVs and sleds to the north end of town. For those new to the area, this bridge has been discussed at length for over 10 years and nothing has ever come of it.
After councilor Veale made the motion mayor Letham “guided” him into adding that the route through Lindsay would be taken off the table completely. Councilor Veale went along with that “guidance” and council voted in favor of the motion. The vote was split 4 to 4 and the mayor was the deciding vote against allowing the route through Lindsay to go ahead.
Just so you understand how this works, the final vote doesn’t happen at the committee of the whole. The motion that was made and voted on their will now go to the regular council meeting on September 21st for a final vote. This is just a formality but also a last chance to get the councilors to change their vote or extract parts of the motion.
Those who voted in favor of shutting down a route through Lindsay were:
Councilor Pat O’Reilly (south Lindsay ward)
Councilor Emmett Yeo (Cobonconk ward)
Councilor Doug Elmslie (Fenelon Falls ward)
Councilor Andrew Veale (Little Britain & Woodville)
Mayor Letham was the deciding vote in their favor
So 3 of the 4 councilors who voted against ATVs on roads actually are councilors whose wards currently benefit from the ATVs on their roads and spending money in their businesses. Does that make sense to you?
The only chance we have right now is for you to reach out to the councilors and the mayor and ask them to change the outcome on September 21st or to ask the other councilors to extract that portion of the motion that closes the option of having a route through Lindsay.
There is also another task force meeting this morning at 10am that you can watch on Youtube to see what direction the task force goes in response to last weeks meeting.
Here’s the link to the committee of the whole meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PflyWT2wMaI…
Please note that trail 45 (BDSC trail E108) between between 56 & 57 will be closed as of Monday September 13 until Friday September 17 to facilitate the installation of a new bridge , replacing a deteriorated culvert.
We’ve signed off on the contract to resurface the Victoria Rail Trail from the village of Burnt River north to the Crego Creek bridge. This is a large project and the section of trail in most need of repairs so it will take a few weeks to complete and may affect use of the trail. The contractor has started the process for the locates now and will let us know when they will be starting the work. We’ll keep you posted.
#katva#membershipdollarsatwork#membershipmatters
Work has begun to fix the washouts
Work has begun on the fire route that leads into trail #50. We had a grader go in from Crystal Lake road and fix the washouts on the fire route. The next step will be getting the materials in to re-deck Porky’s bridge on Trail #50. This entire trail is private property so this work is done to foster our relationships with the multiple private landowners as well as keeping the trails safe for riders.At some point the trail will be closed for a day or two while the bridge is being worked on. We’ll advise when that’s happening. #membershipdollarsatwork #katva#tmsc#trailpartnerships#katvavolunteersrock