A recent article about the County upgrades to the Algonquin Trail perceives to tell the public that all parties affected are excited and accepting participants. This is not true.
The County and the Municipalities are using bullying tactics and threats to obtain possession of our land. Some landowners have received legal letters demanding possession of land while others have been told they will be required to move outbuildings including sheds and garages to permit the County to take over their land. The land the County is demanding belongs to law abiding citizens who worked hard to purchase, care for, and in some cases, make a living from. The CPR has not run a train through the County since 2003 when they officially abandoned the land. Abandoned means it is no longer used or required.
The County is leading landowners to believe that they have the right to take the land and use it how they chose. This is Canada! We do not reside in a communist country where our land belongs to the government. We bought our land legally. In some cases, our land has been in our families for generations. Our land has rights attached including the right to quiet enjoyment.
There has been little or no contact made with the landowners and the County has quietly pushed through the County Trail even though there is much opposition from those directly affected by their decisions. There is no regard for the landowners whatsoever.
The public is not being provided accurate information about the real costs to the landowners and tax payers, or who is responsible for damage or injury, or for care and maintenance to keep the public from entering private property. The County is refusing to accept liability but is demanding ownership of these lands.
Nowhere is it written that a landowner must give up their land to a government agency or anyone for use by others, which will, and has already, decreased the value of our land, increased trespass, vandalism and property damage – all at a cost to the owner to repair, clean, and monitor.
These snowmobilers and ATV owners are not paying for this trail. There would be no way to collect fees and dues for usage, care and maintenance as there is no way of monitoring use. The landowners have incurred the expense by way of substantial increase to property tax and paying by the decreased land values. A tax increase for something we do not want but allows others to cause damage to our property and decrease the value. There is nothing right or just about what the County is doing.
The Railway abuts our land, running alongside our private road which we maintain year round at our own cost without any assistance from the municipality. Over the past couple of years, many calls have been made to the police for trespassing, damage, littering, and loud and disruptive noise through the night by snowmobilers, ATV’s, and trucks. We are very concerned about a trail passing along our properties.
These calls to police are referred to the County or Municipality. Calls to the County and Municipality are referred to the police. Each states that a full description of the person causing the disturbance, vandalism or trespass, including vehicle markings and plate numbers is required before any enforcement can be taken. This is impossible! Everyone confirms they are fully aware that it is impossible but that without the information there is nothing anyone can do about it. Most riders have a helmet with a face cover driving at speeds that do not allow a person to obtain the vehicle identification.
Many landowners have attended these meetings at the Municipalities and County to voice our concerns and bring attention to the issues and concerns. Our issues and concerns are downplayed or ignored. Even concern for public safety is seen as minimal at best. Emergency vehicles access will be near impossible within the critical time periods. Trails are imbedded on private land without access for emergency vehicles to get to a victim or assist in a situation requiring intervention.
The Trail has become a huge expense to the County and will prove to be a nuisance, very unsafe due to the secluded sections, an invitation to access private properties and a route to escape from law enforcement (something that is already going on). The police do not have the equipment or manpower to keep it safe.
No consideration has been given to the contaminated land of the rail bed. At one meeting it was said that there would be no disturbance to the rail bed. This is not true as the rail bed has been dug, packed and disturbed in many areas.
There are more than 50 homes along our stretch, all of whom are on wells fed by streams which run under and around the rail bed. If the contaminated lands are disturbed, our wells could possibly be contaminated permanently. Even if the County took on responsibility to correct any such contamination, the residents would be without potable water for probably several years, all for the sake of a public access along our privately owned properties.
The public and landowners should be aware that the definition of an easement or right of way is that there is a right to use another’s land for a specified purpose, and when the holder of the easement or right of way expressly or impliedly abandons its use, the easement no longer encumbers the underlying land. There is no legal ownership of land by any Railway using a Right of Way or Easement. The Railway cannot simply give the land or sell someone else’s land to the County. The same goes that a landowner is not required to give, or sell, their land or a strip of their land, to the County or anyone because it is demanded for use by the public for unwanted leisure purposes.
These multi-purpose trails have been tested and put in place in other areas and provinces and have proven failure. They don’t work and for obvious reasons. They are dangerous and infringe on the rights of landowners. Residents endure the extreme noise, air pollution and invasion of privacy without compromise.
We, as landowners, do not deserve to lose our quiet enjoyment of our properties, or to endure the noise, air pollution, trespass, vandalism, littering and costs of maintenance caused by what the County calls a multi-purpose four season trail that they refuse to acknowledge liability and responsibility.
All landowners affected by this trail need to contact their Municipal and County Counsellors immediately and let them know where you stand. This is our land and we deserve to enjoy it! Be loud! Be clear! Don’t wait and see. Don’t sit back and accept or allow your land to be taken!
Bruce and Nancy Holderny
Laurentian Valley Township
