What was once a young bike enthusiast’s dream will soon become a reality.
When Chiarra Harris was just 11-years-old she stood before the City of Cold Lake council to pitch her idea for a bike skills park and trail.
Now, three years later, that simple idea is coming to fruition.
During their Sept. 10 council meeting, the City of Cold Lake decided to go ahead with carving out one of the trails this fall after the group spearheading the project discovered the contractor hired to design and create the trail and park, Jay Hoots, had an opening.
According to Glenn Barnes, general manager of community services, due to some poor weather conditions in the area he’s currently working, Hoots was looking to sneak in part of the Cold Lake project.
“We started to talk to the contractor in regards to what work would be seen moving forward in this phase, and they’re looking at a one to three man crew using a small mini bobcat to carve out one to three kilometres of trail, weather depending,”detailed Barnes. “The cost of doing so is in the range of anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000, depending on how much work he can get done in that time frame.”
The city had set aside some funding in their 2019 budget specifically for this endeavour. They were waiting for those that approached council with the idea in the first place to create a society and show they had the volunteer support to not only get the job done, but to also maintain the park and trail system.
With over 160 people signing up through the group’s brand new website, the city was confident they had the support of the biking community.
“We looked at that and said ‘how strong does that number look?’ We want to ensure that the society exists today and exists tomorrow moving forward,” Barnes stated. “We want to ensure, as we do with all of our buildings, that they’re maintained and constructed in the highest quality to ensure that this is a destination zone moving forward.”
Barnes added, “The city expects and will continue to expect that this facility, the trails as well as the bike park, be maintained and viewed as a destination spot, and how does that look in the relationship with the society?”
Although they still have to work out the details in terms of maintenance, council wanted to see the trail move forward.
“We haven’t gotten those ironed out just yet, but we did look at their mandate in their society application, which had some good wording to it. That’s where we are today, is they want to do some of the work and I think the society is quite strong and committed to being part of that. However, what we don’t have is that agreement, that relationship with the society at this point in time,” noted Barnes.
Before they can get started, there are some “hurdles” the city and contractor will have to overcome.
Barnes said the site, which is located around and at the base of the Cold Lake museum, has some historical designation surrounding it.
“We want to make sure we’re conscious of the designation, and we also need to make sure... any environmental approvals are taken care of.”
This small portion of the trail could be ready as early as spring 2020.
Once completed, the trail system would include a variety of skill-level options. The one they’re getting started on is known as a beginner trail, so families of all skill levels can enjoy it.
While he wants to see shovels in the ground sooner than later, Coun. Bob Buckle stressed the need for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the society.
“We’re going to need a user agreement with them, because I don’t want implied ownership to be an issue down the road and the city should do its due diligence with an MOU,” he stated.
Coun. Kirk Soroka said, “The volunteers will work very hard at it because they want to grow it and continue to have a long use. I was surprised with 161 members… that’s impressive, so good work on the organizers.”
