Kawartha Lakes – At the December 14 Regular Council meeting, the proposed recommendations regarding the additional ATV connection routes were approved. Pilot programs for the areas of Janetville, Pontypool, Omemee and Cameron will take place in 2022, as well as in Lindsay, which was approved by Council in October.

Council also reviewed the minutes from the last Off Road Vehicle Task Force meeting from November 26, and adopted recommendations for monitoring the pilot program. Staff will bring a feasibility report in February that outlines how the roads, complaints and traffic counts will be observed and tracked throughout the course of the program.

The approval of the remaining recommendations by Council was the final action item for the Off Road Vehicle Task Force and concluded their work. The Task Force was dissolved on December 14. Council took a brief moment to acknowledge and thank everyone who was a part of the project.

“I want to thank the members of the Task Force for all of their work. Some of them have never been part of a Task Force before and I know it wasn’t an easy matter to tackle,” commented Mayor Letham. “A decision has been made and we need to move past the arguments and work together. I hope Council, enforcement, residents and ATV users can work together to implement a pilot project that is safe and effective. We are committed to doing this accurately, monitoring it properly and if we need to make adjustments as we go, we can always do that.”

“I want to take a moment to personally recognize the hard work completed by the members of the Task Force, especially our civilian members who may not be accustom to the politics that arose over the course of this project,” commented Councillor Dunn, Chair of the ORV Task Force. “I want to commend them for listening to all sides, moving forward through difficult conversations and for coming together to make these final decisions.”

All information related to the Off Road Vehicle Task Force is available on the project page on Jump In. Maps have been updated to reflect the approved routes for Janetville, Pontypool, Omemee and Cameron and can be viewed online.