Amid work on the Upper Canada Heritage Trail stalling after crews dug up an early 1900s railway marker, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is moving ahead with a plan to let its staff keep assisting with its restoration.
Last Tuesday, councillors moved a recommendation report from town staff forward, which outlines remaining construction costs for the heritage trail’s restoration.
The recommendation allows town crews, once free from other duties, to keep assisting volunteers with the project, once volunteers have raised enough money.
In its report, staff estimated the value of the municipality’s labour is $170,170.
“The committee would like to express their support for this report,” said Rick Meloen, chair of the heritage trail committee. “This in-kind staffing would go a long way to aid our fundraising efforts.”
Meloen told councillors the crew digging the next stretch of the 10-kilometre route uncovered a concrete whistle post in November — a broken marker once used to tell train engineers when to blow the whistle.
“We have a piece of heritage now on the heritage trail.”
The find stopped work until an archeological assessment can be done, but that review still hasn’t happened.
“The committee was very disappointed that work stopped,” said Meloen. “However, the whistle post happens to be an interesting and maybe significant artifact — it dates back to around 1910.”
He said the whistle post is about eight feet long, made of concrete with rebar through the centre and broken in the middle.
The post is now being stored, with plans to repair it and place it back along the trail with a sign.
Volunteers raised enough this year to extend the trail to Line 4 — about the halfway point — after finishing earlier sections last year. But Meloen said fundraising remains difficult even though people “really like the trail.”
Committee vice chair Tony Chisholm said a September dog-walk event brought in more than $6,000 and a new donor letter has gone out, but after finishing the latest stretch, “we’re pretty well out of funds.”
He said close to $290,000 is still needed to keep building toward Line 9.
Coun. Wendy Cheropita clarified what she believes the request means: “We’re not asking the town for money to hire new staff to do this work.”
“We’re just asking that, when staff are not working on something else, that they, who are already being paid, come and work on the trail,” she said.
The committee chair said the delegation was only an update and not a request, but Cheropita said, nonetheless, she wanted to clarify what “in-kind” support means, to avoid confusion.
Coun. Erwin Wiens asked whether the committee had considered clearing brush farther along the route so people don’t have to leave the trail where it becomes overgrown. The committee said volunteers might be able to help with that and would support the idea.
Coun. Andrew Niven, meanwhile, wanted to know if staff have enough time to take on the work.
Supporting the trail hasn’t been an issue for staff in “the past several years,” said Nick Ruller, chief administrative officer. He added that if that ever changes, it can be addressed through future budgets.
Coun. Sandra O’Connor raised concerns she has heard about some cyclists harassing walkers: “I’m very supportive of the heritage trail, by the way, but I’ve had some comments reported.”
“I’m just wondering what we can do to try and mitigate this situation, I know I talked to staff about signage,” she added.
Staff said it has investigated the complaints, is looking at signage options and shares any concerns with the Niagara Regional Police.
Now, Meloen said the committee is “looking forward to completion of the next phase, which will take us to Line 9.”
Chisholm added that the trail has been “a labour of love” over the eight years volunteers have worked on it and it’s been “very gratifying to see how well it’s been accepted and how much is being used currently.”
He said the recommendation for in-kind labour would be “a huge help for us” if approved.
Both he and Meloen thanked town staff for its work on the project and the co-operation to date, “especially Kevin Turcotte,” said Chisholm.
