East Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA)

[grover_yyz]

I was on the EOTA site https://www.thetrail.ca/ and I was curious about the repair of a couple of bridges on the E208. Looks like they completed it along with a lot of other trail upgrades and repairs where some become sled trails in the winter.  Thanks EOTA for your dedication to the trails.

 

Jerry

[SRXChris]

I'm a little confused.  My understanding was the EOTA does nothing and the OFSC does all the work, again I'm new to it all and just a little hazy.   I was searching the CHSC on facebook and found all types of comments slamming the EOTA.  According to the president of the Centre Hastings snowmobile club they do nothing and collect money.  Then all the comments and posts seem to reflect this about signage around the Centre Hastings area, trail conditions etc.  This release seems to address some of this so is the hatred towards this association is why I'm wondering.

 

I've seen all the grading around the area and the trails fixes so I'm looking forward to the coming season.  I''m not trying to stir pot just wondering if the EOTA is what the CHSC says it is.

[signfan]

10 hours ago, SRXChris said:

I'm a little confused.  My understanding was the EOTA does nothing and the OFSC does all the work, again I'm new to it all and just a little hazy.   I was searching the CHSC on facebook and found all types of comments slamming the EOTA.  According to the president of the Centre Hastings snowmobile club they do nothing and collect money.  Then all the comments and posts seem to reflect this about signage around the Centre Hastings area, trail conditions etc.  This release seems to address some of this so is the hatred towards this association is why I'm wondering.

 

I've seen all the grading around the area and the trails fixes so I'm looking forward to the coming season.  I''m not trying to stir pot just wondering if the EOTA is what the CHSC says it is.

Simple answer is yes it is.  No transparency is arugably the biggest issue.  Add up the km of trail and do a comparison to the work snowmobile clubs complete on an equivalent amount of trail.  The list from the snowmobile clubs would be 10 times longer.  Then the snowmobile club's cover the trail 1 - 2 times a week with a groomer all season long on top of that list.  Nice to see some of the projects done that EOTA has completed.  There is still more projects to complete.  One being a major bridge closure south of Madoc which has been closed for many years.  I think the biggest frustration from the snowmobile clubs is EOTA wanting to keep full control of all projects, they want to charge the clubs and won't be transparent with all of the background behind the projects (costs, permitting, etc.).  This lack of transparency has caused delays and prevented the clubs from accessing available grants to contribute to the trails in more than one instance.  There is no interest in a true and meaningful partnership which is how it should be.  If one club had an issue with EOTA I could see there just being personality conflicts, but when it's 7 plus snowmobile clubs and they all say the same thing (and have for well over a decade through numerous changes in snowmobile club executives) there is only one common denominator.  Anyways it's nice to see some work happening despite the differences between the organizations.

[revrnd]

In early Oct' I had seen that the railbed had been graded south of LSP.

 

The decking on the bridges between Ormsby Jct and LSP has needed repairs for years without any attention. Prior to this work listed above, the only project that I'm aware of was the replacement of the bridge in Bancroft near the airport.

 

Finally their signage needs a major audit. On the HHT a lot of the stop signs are pink not red and in 1 case north of Birds Creek, there are 2 stop signs in place as you approach a road crossing.

[GTC]

They do very little in the Sharbot Lake Area 

[BoonerBP]

On 11/7/2020 at 8:31 PM, signfan said:

Simple answer is yes it is.  No transparency is arugably the biggest issue.  Add up the km of trail and do a comparison to the work snowmobile clubs complete on an equivalent amount of trail.  The list from the snowmobile clubs would be 10 times longer.  Then the snowmobile club's cover the trail 1 - 2 times a week with a groomer all season long on top of that list.  Nice to see some of the projects done that EOTA has completed.  There is still more projects to complete.  One being a major bridge closure south of Madoc which has been closed for many years.  I think the biggest frustration from the snowmobile clubs is EOTA wanting to keep full control of all projects, they want to charge the clubs and won't be transparent with all of the background behind the projects (costs, permitting, etc.).  This lack of transparency has caused delays and prevented the clubs from accessing available grants to contribute to the trails in more than one instance.  There is no interest in a true and meaningful partnership which is how it should be.  If one club had an issue with EOTA I could see there just being personality conflicts, but when it's 7 plus snowmobile clubs and they all say the same thing (and have for well over a decade through numerous changes in snowmobile club executives) there is only one common denominator.  Anyways it's nice to see some work happening despite the differences between the organizations.

We may be turning the corner on this issue, dialogue has been ongoing since April and in my opinion we are moving in the right direction towards the common goal of keeping the trails available for all user groups and a cooperative approach to infrastructure improvements and joint projects.

[signfan]

That's nice to hear.  Great news!!

[Bigfish]

3 hours ago, signfan said:

That's nice to hear.  Great news!!

x2

[revrnd]

[Muskoka Bill]

26 minutes ago, revrnd said:

I sent my complaint to EOTA !!

[revrnd]

6 minutes ago, Muskoka Bill said:

I sent my complaint to EOTA !!

Good for you!

 

They aren't too popular amongst the ATV crowd either.

[revrnd]

Was there not issues opening the Hav-A-Ball loop last winter because it used part of the Hastings Heritage Trail?

[Muskoka Bill]

28 minutes ago, revrnd said:

Good for you!

 

They aren't too popular amongst the ATV crowd either.

Just got a reply from EOTA;

Hi  Bill

 

Where are you getting your information.  Agreements are all looked after.  Not very nice if people are giving you the wrong info

 

Cindy

 

[GTC]

She is clearly a liar, as we have not received Land Use Agreement from her yet either in our area

EOTA does the same to us every year on the rail bed between Sharbot Lake and Mountain Grove

We wanted to do some grading on that portion, but with out an agreement we can’t get a PO for the work

[revrnd]

2 hours ago, GTC said:

She is clearly a liar, as we have not received Land Use Agreement from her yet either in our area

EOTA does the same to us every year on the rail bed between Sharbot Lake and Mountain Grove

We wanted to do some grading on that portion, but with out an agreement we can’t get a PO for the work

 

It'll be a cold day in Hell MI before I buy a permit to go and ride their trails.

 

Hats off to the clubs that have to deal w/ this nonsense each year.

[Turbo Doo]

Really sucks to see this going on in this sport. WOW. Good luck to the clubs and the volunteers who deal with this stuff!..

[BoonerBP]

An agreement has been reached with EOTA and Districts2,3 and 6. Other than signatures and insurance docs being finalized I can confirm Cindy's response as accurate. 

[grover_yyz]

13 hours ago, BoonerBP said:

An agreement has been reached with EOTA and Districts2,3 and 6. Other than signatures and insurance docs being finalized I can confirm Cindy's response as accurate. 

That's great news. So sad these negotiations go on and on.