bbakernbay

Great news from the BEAST Newsletter today as follows: Snowmobile Trails within City of Ottawa Limits We’re back in business!!! It gives us great pleasure to announce that we have reached an insurance agreement with the City of Ottawa.The agreement will take effect immediately. All trails will remain closed until our volunteers have a chance to examine them and deem them passable for use. This work will begin immediately, and grooming will begin ASAP and continue as long as possible until as many trails as possible can be safely opened. We are asking to remain patient and DO NOT venture onto closed trails. Consult the Interactive Trail Guide for trail availability updates at https://ofsc.evtrails.com or the GoSnowmobiling App. The salvage of the snowmobile season for our permit holders within the City of Ottawa is the direct result of the understanding and cooperation the staff of the City of Ottawa exhibited throughout. Our thanks go to them. The BEAST would also like to thank our rural councillors within the City. Eli El-Chantiry, Scott Moffat and in particular George Darouze. They were able to put the right people around the same table to speak to our representatives to come to an agreement. Well done everyone. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the BEAST we thank you for your continued patience.

From today’s BEAST Newsletter Snowmobile Trails within City of Ottawa Limits The Beautiful Eastern Association of Snowmobile Trails (BEAST), as well as other clubs with trails within the City of Ottawa, still do not have the required Certificate of Insurance (COI) needed to open the trails. Negotiation is ongoing between City of Ottawa and the OFSC insurance provider to reach an agreement, it's out of our hands at the club level. We will let you know as soon as we are informed that an agreement has been reached, on then we will be able to open trails within City of Ottawa. Please stay off closed trails, identified on the ITG as red "unavailable". Thank you for your patience. The BEAST 311 along the Ottawa Valley Rail Trail (OVRT) and other BEAST trails in Lanark County are not affected and are beginning to open up as green "available" or yellow "limited available". Volunteers have been working hard to open as many trails possible as soon as possible. Groomers have been active. Please consult the Interactive Trail Guide (ITG) at https://ofsc.evtrails.com/# or the GoSnowmobiling App for available trails. Please stay off closed trails, identified on the ITG as red "unavailable".

Not available anymore on NBSC website either.

Here is a post from NBSC Facebook from a person that is familiar with bridge reconstruction and the fact that the Temiscaming Club groomer and drag is unable to cross Ottawa River. Confirms what Turbo Doo previously posted that it was a tight fit even for double wide sled trailer. “The bridge is under construction, so this winter will suck for the snowmobile crew, however, the groomer cannot actually fit onto the bridge due to groomer being too wide. The groomer is wider than a snowplow/transports, and cannot make the pass on a single car lane. But this has not stopped people from Ontario to trailer their way into Quebec.”

Does your Club renew every Landowner Agreement every year? Has the standard OFSC LUP Agreement been revised for this season or is it the exact same one that has been used for many years.

Recent post from NBSC "Unfortunately we have bad news. The A102Q will not be open this season, as we had planned. We were just advised that the Sno - Voyageurs club in Temiskaming is unable to groom their section of trail due to a 1 lane bridge in town that they stated they are unable to cross with the groomer. It’s unfortunate for all involved, clubs, businesses & permit holders. If anything changes we will be sure to advise but you’ll need to plan any trips accordingly."

The OFSC press release wasn’t perfectly clear on that and a copy referring to LUP follows. It did say “has not been renewed...” which I have never had to do before, keeps in force unless notified by Landowner but maybe that has changed. Don’t rely on my conjecture or others, your District should be giving the latest direction, if in fact procedural changes have been implemented. It does say “in some of the affected areas” whatever that means. “Land Use Permission agreements are secured by Clubs and Districts; this was again reconfirmed at the latest Board of Governors meeting in January. In some of the affected areas, access to the trails is dependent on the District and Club securing the necessary Land Use Permission (LUP) from the owners of the subject properties. Wherever an LUP has not yet been renewed or granted by the landowner, the trails remain closed. The OFSC has always and continues to consult with and assist Districts and Clubs to ensure key land use agreements do not result in personal liability exposure for our valuable volunteers.“

Apparently the critical Court case was sometime in October that probably precipitated this situation. It seems OFSC had to revise their LUP Agreement as a consequence of the court decision. This takes time. Then they had to send new LUP to District/Clubs which seem like they needed to get every Landowner to review and renew the new LUP. Big Landowners likely had their lawyers get involved and maybe amendments go back and forth, etc. This takes a lot of time and Christmas interval doesn’t help so here we are in January. Sounds to me that we are lucky this hasn’t shut down more trails. Everybody is obviously hugely disappointed, especially in those areas having major trail closures. My major beef is OFSC timing and explanation of the issues bringing this about. Bottom line, as it always has been, if a Landowner decides not to offer their property for trail use then game over. Both the Feds and Province need to offer inducements to property owners to grant permission for public trail use.

The CBC News report posted above seem to be pretty factual although lacking a comment from OFSC Senior representatives. It seems to confirm the basic facts being discussed here. I don’t believe that this thread should be locked but any poster can certainly delete their post at any time.

From CBC News Insurance impasse puts snowmobile season on thin ice Stu Mills 9 hrs ago The pain of the missing pleasure craft: B.C. family fights for return… Audio seems to catch Trump discussing firing Yovanovitch © Denis Babin/Radio-Canada Hundreds of kilometers of snowmobile trails criss-cross the United Counties of Prescott & Russell. A dispute over insurance is putting the recreational snowmobile season in eastern Ontario on thin ice. The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), whose members operate and maintain thousands of kilometres of trails across the province, issues liability insurance certificates to private landowners whose property the trails cross. But this year, some landowners in this region are refusing to renew that arrangement. The United Counties of Prescott & Russell is one of those landowners. In a French-language interview, the municipality's director of planning, Louis Prevost, said its lawyers have recommended against renewing the annual certificate. According to Prevost, they're concerned the coverage would limit civil liability in the event of an accident. Trails closed The imbroglio has forced the Snowmobile Club of Eastern Ontario (SCEO), an OFSC member, to close 100 kilometres of its trails, about one-quarter of its network. "Why was it acceptable last year and not this year?" asked SCEO president Kim Melbourne. "It's frustrating." The closures punch holes in the network of interconnected routes that take sledders from one end of the Prescott & Russell to the other, Melbourne said. "Maybe the [snowmobile club] members will be happy just going around in circles, and when they get bored they'll just turn around and go the other way," she scoffed. The insurance impasse means popular trails through the Larose forest, a huge wooded area in the western part of the region, is off limits, as is a former rail corridor still owned by CN, which crosses the region from the Ontario-Quebec border Ottawa's city limits. © Denis Babin/Radio-Canada Plantagenet, Ont., restaurateur Charles Lamarche worries about the effect of… 'It's dangerous' "Right now, it's dangerous," said snowmobiler Sébastien Saumure, who worries the sudden trail closures will catch some by surprise. Saumure, who lives in L'Orignal, Ont., said he's more likely to go sledding in western Quebec where the trails remain uninterrupted. That worries Charles Lamarche, who estimates half the wintertime customers at his bar-motel in Plantagenet, Ont., are snowmobilers. "If there's no snowmobile season, I really don't know what we're going to do," he said in French. Instead of enjoying their sport, Melbourne and other volunteers with the club will have to spend their time posting "Trail Closed" signs along the network. She's imploring members to obey them.

Undoubtedly the OFSC is correct but their communications and explanation of the issue is lacking in my opinion. The total impact is not yet known, hopefully some of these issue will get resolved this season.

Thanks Jason for trying to fill in the blanks. This scenario certainly makes sense and explains the urgency of OFSC wanting to revise the LUP. Somewhat disingenuous of OFSC Press Release saying the Insurance Policy hasn’t changed in 20 years, which is probably true, but neglecting to say that recent liability claim experience has made it absolutely necessary to amend the LUP Agreement in order to better protect OFSC Volunteers and the OFSC from claims resulting from activities not directly related to snowmobiling or outside winter season. Below is what they said yesterday and it is a little confusing about “clubs have ... entered into agreements” which appears to put the onus on clubs being at fault. Just my interpretation, others may chime in to clarify or correct. “Contrary to claims on various social media platforms, THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE to the OFSC insurance coverage in 20 years. Any information stating our coverage has been altered is false. The truth is, some clubs have recently, through a review process, discovered they have entered into agreements which expose them to liability activities completely unrelated to snowmobile trail operations. The OFSC does not wish to see any volunteer exposed to such risk.”

Finally we are getting some helpful information thanks to Jason T. This appears to say that OFSC revised the Standard Landowner Use Permission Agreement and directed all Clubs to then go out and get the new revised LUPs signed. Is this correct? This in itself is a big task, especially at start of the season and always risks having someone refuse or physically cannot find the Landowner for a timely approval. Secondly the Corporate landowners like municipalities, conservation authorities, railways, etc. are naturally going to turn over the new LUPs to their legal staff for review and guess what, this takes a lot of time and with the big landowners probably wanting revisions or even refusal. Yes, a lot to put on the Clubs at their most trying time and secondly when you make province wide plans you need to assess the possible impact and whether it is worth doing. The impact on some Districts looks very serious. Many of us are struggling to know what the hell really happened to cause this chaos at the worst possible time. If there are more facts to be shared, please do so. Always say there are 3 sides to every story. Very distressing to hear that longtime Volunteers are fed up because they are a diminishing resource.

Can you say whether your landowner issues are with individual private landowners or is the issue with corporate landowners like railways, government, conservation authorities, etc.

Why do you think it is necessarily the fault of the OFSC? If landowners like CP Rail or some Conservation Authorities make outrageous demands concerning liability insurance, especially in December or January then what can the OFSC do about it. Unfortunately the Landowner has all the power and it is very unfortunate that they choose to change their policy at the last minute. Very unfortunate situation and Clubs and Districts have their hands tied especially if they are signing a LUP and cannot in fact meet the legal and liability requirements stipulated by the landowners. hopefully we will hear more details as time passes.

In the case of CP Rail they are likely using this opportunity to eliminate as much traffic on their right-ofway and rail crossings as possible for the entire year. Make outrageous liability demands of the OFSC and know full well that it can’t be accepted. Dirty pool to do that just as season gets going.

So are the Landowners, being railway, conservation authority or private individual, terminating their LUaps for their own reasons. Our Clubs LUPs just carried on year to year unless the landowner wanted to terminate. seems strange to me that all these problems are happening this year. The Press Release doesn’t say this but it looks like OFSC must have instructed Clubs/Districts to review their LUPs to ensure they were not in contravention of the OFSC Liability Insurance Policy.

As they said, OFSC Head office and the Governors do follow social media closely and obviously they heard clearly that a clarification was needed as to what is happening.

Thanks Yukon. Yes indeed and very timely. Hopefully our discussion here had some part in having this Press Release prepared and released. I posted as a separate topic as some might miss it on this thread.

IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE: LAND USE AGREEMENTS Posted on 23 Jan 2020 | by KTXdiq Dear Snowmobilers, The last few weeks have presented confusing misinformation regarding trail access for some areas of the provincial system. Land Use Permission agreements are secured by Clubs and Districts; this was again reconfirmed at the latest Board of Governors meeting in January. In some of the affected areas, access to the trails is dependent on the District and Club securing the necessary Land Use Permission (LUP) from the owners of the subject properties. Wherever an LUP has not yet been renewed or granted by the landowner, the trails remain closed. The OFSC has always and continues to consult with and assist Districts and Clubs to ensure key land use agreements do not result in personal liability exposure for our valuable volunteers. Contrary to claims on various social media platforms, THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE to the OFSC insurance coverage in 20 years. Any information stating our coverage has been altered is false. The truth is, some clubs have recently, through a review process, discovered they have entered into agreements which expose them to liability activities completely unrelated to snowmobile trail operations. The OFSC does not wish to see any volunteer exposed to such risk. We strongly encourage our valued permit holders to stay updated and receive correct information through their Club and District board members. We remain optimistic that many of the current LUP challenges will be successfully resolved. Sincerely, OFSC Executive Committee Questions about local land use permission and access can be directed to your District Office. Contact information for districts can be found here: https://www.ofsc.on.ca/find-your-district/ Post navigation

Agree 100%.

I agree with you to a point but if the issue is OFSC Insurance and possibly a change in policy direction from the OFSC and their Insurer, then I think that the OFSC does have a responsibility to step up and state the reasons why they cannot have Clubs or Districts enter into LUPs that are too onerous with respect to liability outside of the snowmobiling season, if in fact that is the issue. The Clubs and Districts need OFSC to be up front with these new issue being faced with the railways, conservation authorities and other landowners that may be requiring the OFSC to accept greater liability than is reasonable. The Districts and Clubs are not equipped to speak to this issue and more importantly how the issues will be resolved, or not, in the long term.

Sounds like you have had a lot of bad rides in the past years? What changed this year, particularly when the trails have just started to open?

Wow, really getting serious but hopefully that will draw some media and political attention to the issue.

Here you are.