Ontario hydro trying to kill snowmobiling

[R00STER]

Get this,
Ontario hydro has put forward a proposal that snowmobile clubs that use the power lines for their trails will have to pay for 50 percent of the land taxes, be responsible for installing fences and gates and move all trails 15 meters from any tower.
Our clubs are obviously non profit and if this passes then it will for sure bankrupt every club in Ontario. Our local trail system is 80% or more on the power lines. If we loose that access we are done.
This is nothing but another embarrassing cash grab from Ontario hydro!
We already pay a monthly charge for their retirement debt fund, and their time of usage rates which doubles the price per kW during peak hours.
Now they are trying to kill our sport!

 

[Thebert]

That's terrible news perhaps they should save money by not flying fuel into reserves and trucking it all in instead for the generators

 

[Sasquatch]

Get this,
Ontario hydro has put forward a proposal that snowmobile clubs that use the power lines for their trails will have to pay for 50 percent of the land taxes, be responsible for installing fences and gates and move all trails 15 meters from any tower.
Our clubs are obviously non profit and if this passes then it will for sure bankrupt every club in Ontario. Our local trail system is 80% or more on the power lines. If we loose that access we are done.
This is nothing but another embarrassing cash grab from Ontario hydro!
We already pay a monthly charge for their retirement debt fund, and their time of usage rates which doubles the price per kW during peak hours.
Now they are trying to kill our sport!

Yes someone decided to use an old piece of paper aimed at something non sled related and apply it to sleds. Probable a new guy looking for a move up or a ataboy! My thoughts anyway.


Here its is being brought up in the house in question answer period


http://youtube.com/embed/wTXLMPGUU-I?html5=1&fs=1


Here is the document they want the clubs to sign. Note the date of the document.


https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6763960_7159389_6225614


This is the last I've heard from the government.

Complaints from snowmobile clubs has forced the provincial government to reconsider a controversial policy.
Transportation Minister Glenn Murray confirms a decision to charge snowmobile clubs for use of hydro right-of-ways is under review.
Murray says the policy was put in place because of liability concerns raised by the Ministries of Infrastructure and Energy.
He says he heard concerns from several user groups and notes this was an old piece of legislation.
NDP critic Michael Mantha is worried that the government will instead transfer the costs onto local municipalities.

 

[Sasquatch]

Oh by the way the areas affected so far seem to be district 8 and 4. Repercussions could be huge for sledders Canada wide once the ball starts rolling and gains momentum! We must attack it now call your MPP.

 

[soldi]

Not sure about your situation but most power line companies here likes snowmobile tracks under the power lines as it makes repairing lines after storms and also searching for broken power lines or maintenance much more cost efficient.. Just saying...

 

[thrasher]

Very good point soldi. However, common sense doesn't seem to be all that common anymore. If Hydro One has its way, the Ontario trail system will become a note in history. I guess the provincial Liberals are just trying to make up for their billion dollar hydro gas plant fiasco. They should all be fired and forfeit their pensions as well. Hopefully, this issue will get resolved in favour of the snowmobiling industry, as it is an economic generator.

 

[Irv]

Very good point soldi. However, common sense doesn't seem to be all that common anymore. If Hydro One has its way, the Ontario trail system will become a note in history. I guess the provincial Liberals are just trying to make up for their billion dollar hydro gas plant fiasco. They should all be fired and forfeit their pensions as well. Hopefully, this issue will get resolved in favour of the snowmobiling industry, as it is an economic generator.

I work for Ontario Hydro, better now known as Ontario Power Generation, or OPG for short, but either or, neither of these companies or it's employees has anything to do with this.

It is strictly the Gov't of Ontario's agenda nothing more, but they don't want you to know that and like the idea of hiding behind these company names as most/many don't realize they are Gov't owned.

 

[Irv]

Very good point soldi. However, common sense doesn't seem to be all that common anymore. If Hydro One has its way, the Ontario trail system will become a note in history. I guess the provincial Liberals are just trying to make up for their billion dollar hydro gas plant fiasco. They should all be fired and forfeit their pensions as well. Hopefully, this issue will get resolved in favour of the snowmobiling industry, as it is an economic generator.

Exactly, and also be put into prison for a while too as it nothing less than criminal what they have done to this province

 

[pat the rat]

What a shame,i had heard about it but didnt think it was serious,bunch of politicians messing with every good thing we have&$@)&$@, next will be the onr with there abandonned railbeds,makes me sick,timmins,cochrane,kirkland lake all run miles and miles of power lines

 

[whits-end]

Pat, not an issue in your area. Those corridors are on Crown or MNR controlled land. Hydro only pays taxes on land they own.

 

[R00STER]

Pat, not an issue in your area. Those corridors are on Crown or MNR controlled land. Hydro only pays taxes on land they own.

That is an interesting thought. But, we would still have to take on the fencing issue and the stuff about moving the trail 15 meters from the towers. That might not sound like much but if you look at a power line you would see that 15 meters puts you into the tree line. So, we would have to cut a couple hundred Km's of bush to keep our clubs trails legal.
I guess the government would rather see all of the clubs dissolve so instead of the organized riding we have now, you would see complete chaos! Everyone riding everywhere with no regard to simple rules, no respect to land owners and no clue of the hidden dangers in their path. People will still ride no matter what! But a trail makes it safe and fun for everyone.

 

[pat the rat]

Any negativity about our sport ticks me off,not 1 club could afford clearing new trails for miles,we only replace a culvert or remove beaver dams and it costs thousands,

 

[Dr. FeeLGooD]

You need to gather up the forces and talk to your MLA, not MP. Emails, phone calls and letters to the editors. Get the clubs and snowmobile dealers on it. All electrical utilities across North America are in deep poop due to neglecting their infrastructure, and it is all getting wore out at the same time. Costs are huge, but the MLAs will worry about their jobs more than paying the bills.

 

[Yamasquaw]

Fridays paper says the debt retirement fee with be phased out finally by 2015-2016. Tuesdays paper says Hydro to increase 33% by 2016! UNREAL. I'm going off the grid, screw them.

 

[R00STER]

Any negativity about our sport ticks me off,not 1 club could afford clearing new trails for miles,we only replace a culvert or remove beaver dams and it costs thousands,

Yes you are so correct about the clubs not having much money (especially the small ones). A prime example is our neighbour club in Foleyet, last year their only groomer broke down to the point of needing a complete rebuild. Sounds simple right? As a small part of a large federation you would say no problem right? Well if you pull up the trail system map on the old inner web you will see that the trail from Timmins to Chapleau is GONE! I guess someone somewhere figured out that it was Easier to dissolve the club then to repair their groomer. Now we lost a destination point for day tripping. Plus a connection loop is broken. This is very upsetting and disappointing!

Keep your thumb on the happy button!