ATHABASCA – The Athabasca Nordic Ski & Bike Club is looking to continue their work on a new mountain biking trail for the region but need a small loan to kickstart the project.
Town of Athabasca councillors voted 7-0 in favour of referring the topic to their next meeting citing a lack of information, but discussion appeared to be in favour of the loan during their May 16 meeting.
The club needs $30,000 to get a study/master plan completed from McElhanney Engineering, following a quote in late 2022. The club, which plans to start repaying the loan using funds from volunteer casinos, says that the study will be the first part of a four-step plan to get the trail built. Once the study is completed, the project, which is expected to cost $500,000, will enter the design phase, after which the park and trail construction will begin.
Coun. Jonathan LeMessurier, who’s been heavily involved in the project, said that the lack of a master plan was starting to inhibit their ability to get further corporate sponsorship.
“We’re stuck right now because we really need that master plan to go after more corporate donations; they want to see that master plan before they make a commitment. We’re a committee that has almost no funds right now,” said LeMessurier. “We’re going after some other grants, whether it’s Rotary, or Al-Pac, or the government, but currently we have none. We’re looking for the town to loan us $30,000 to give us a boost in getting that master plan complete.”
The full quote from McElhanney Engineering was pulled up by mayor Rob Balay during the meeting, which was completed in 2022, and it is for $31,500. Balay said that he would want some more information about the project scope before voting in favour of it, noting that part of the trail would be on land owned by Athabasca University.
Coun. Ida Edwards said that while she applauded the effort of the club, she still had a few concerns.
“So, they’ve applied to work a casino, I’m just concerned if they’ve applied so that the proceeds can be used to pay back a loan, since there’s so many restrictions about how that works. I just need a little more information from the group.”
Coun. Darlene Reimer shared similar concerns, asking if the club would be able to repay the loan without casino funds.
“The only other piece that I would mention around the casino money is that when you talk about 18 months, that’s when you’ll probably get the casino, but depending on the part of the quarter you’re in, you won’t get the funds for another three months. So, without that money, would the club still have the $30,000 to pay back?
LeMessurier answered that the club would, based on money from corporate entities and other grants.
