ATHABASCA – Obviously it’s too late for this year, but by the time the snow flies again next fall there may be a designated snowmobile route through the Town of Athabasca.
Representatives from the Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club (ARRSC) were before Athabasca town council at the April 5 regular meeting to introduce themselves to the new council and to request the continuation of the good working relationship the two parties have enjoyed through the years. Specifically, the club would like to see Athabasca become a more friendly destination for local and visiting snowmobile enthusiasts.
ARRSC members Jim Olson, Cory Jardine and Mike Schmid laid out the club’s case for an official snowmobile route through town that would allow sledders to legally visit restaurants, gas stations and other Athabasca businesses during the winter.
Schmid, who did most of the talking, said the town is missing out on an opportunity as snowmobile recreation is an $8 billion industry in Canada and the lack of clarity on the rules for snowmobilers in town could be costing the town precious tourism dollars and exposure, as many other communities welcome them with open arms.
“Right now, we're not sure where we're at. We have had some club members stopped and ticketed for just sitting for fuelling up purposes,” Schmid said, adding a recent trip to Swan Hills was eye-opening as they were allowed full access to all the town had to offer, with RCMP members even giving them a wave as they navigated the town, something the club would like to see locally.
He clarified the club isn’t asking for free reign over the town in the winter, just for a route they can use to access the town’s amenities.
“If you're screwing around, let the law take over and get a ticket, but you just want to come in, do your business and go out, that's what we're asking for our guests because we mainly just stick to back alleys anyways, or anything that has snow on it,” said Schmid, adding that while there may be some noise, but it’s no different from the motorcycles
CAO Rachel Ramey said it’s important to have a proper map as the current snowmobile route is along the river, but there is no real instruction as to how to get to it from the south side of town, saying there’s a road from nowhere to nowhere.
“Maybe this is something where we can gather some information on for some of the other towns to see how they structure their bylaws and how to get around things and come up with a plan to work together to see if there's a way that we can find the best of two worlds,” said mayor Rob Balay.
A motion to direct administration to work with the club to generate a new route map and bring it back to council for approval was carried unanimously.
“We'd like to promote the town as snowmobile friendly as well, but right now we cannot do that because, we can’t,” said Schmid.
