COBDEN — Students employed by the Ministry of Natural Resources will be doing maintenance and upgrading of the Cobden Walking Trail.
Mayor Hal Johnson told council at last night’s council meeting he received a call from the MNR looking for permission to allow work to be done by its students.
“There would be no expense to us,” he said. “The trail is an asset and it should be maintained.”
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin agreed, recalling the trouble members of the Cobden and District Civitan Club got into when they tried to do maintenance on the trail.
“We were dealing with things the MNR didn’t like,” he recalled. “It’s a win-win situation if the MNR does (the work).”
Steve Hodson, the township’s environmental services manager, has hopes of finding out who placed locked garbage cans on the trail, and then asked that his department empty them when required.
“They are locked and are full of the same garbage, probably from the last three years,” he said. “I’m not sure who put them out and who is going to empty them. I can’t because they’re locked.”
Mayor Johnson said that issue will be resolved hopefully.
He will report back to the MNR and if there are any follow-up discussions, he will advise Deputy-Chief Administrative Officer Marsha Hawthorne.
The mayor also suggested it would be a good idea for all of council to take a walk along the trail so each member is aware of what is along the trail.
Coun. McLaughlin agreed, saying it would be better if someone from the MNR went with them and pointed out the interesting things along the trail.
Councillor Cathy Regier said with a busy summer season, the walk would be better attended if it were in the fall, and there would be less bugs.
