Twenty-two people attended the annual general meeting of the Vermilion Trail Society on March 11 at the chamber of commerce boardroom.
Present were the executive from the past year, members of the society, representatives chosen from communities along the trail to join the board, Town liasion Councillor Doug Pateman and RDOS Area H director Brad Hope.
As the board for 2014 was decided by acclamation, director Hope had only to make the official introductions; president - Bill Allinott, vice president - Ernie Rice, secretary-treasurer - Ken Reeve and directors Wendy Bentley, Sam Clark are joined by directors: Wayne Ross (Erris), Tom Reichert (Tulameen), Wayne Crimmons (Jura), and Rob Miller (Osprey).
The desire to have a trail that could be used, is what has brought these communities along the trail together. For 21 years, a large portion of the trail has recieved little or no maintenance due to past regulations and these communities, Brookmere through to Osprey, decided it was time to have a trail they could use.
“We do not make the laws/rules, we serve the community,” said Ken Reeve during the meeting. This sentiment was echoed by Bill Alliontt who stated that, “we are an excellent team of communities—our goal is to see that our entire area of trail is being used this year.”
The communities will combine their ‘wish lists’ for their respective areas and VTS will then present those to the RDOS, who manage the trail for the province. The RDOS and Vermilion Trail Society have developed a partnership and will work together on plans for trail maintenance.
As the Town of Princeton has designated the in-town length of trail as non-motorized, Councillor Pateman and Director Hope, along with the trail society, are currently working on possible solutions to provide a by-pass/turnabout to enable motorized users to still have access to the ammenities within the Town of Princeton.