The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) has confirmed its desire to proceed with the establishment of a regional parks and trails service.
During the CRD's committee of the whole meeting held in 100 Mile House on Sept. 5, Darron Campbell, the manager of community services, presented an updated memo and overview of the proposed service. Campbell stated the service is being proposed because the CRD does not actually have ownership or tenure over trail sites throughout the region.
"We tend to rely on partnerships with the province or with various community groups, and then, therefore it becomes limiting in where those low mobility trail opportunities can be," said Campbell.
One of the key features of the proposed service is a new trails coordinator position, which according to the release would be "responsible for leading the design, construction and maintenance of the CRD's existing and possible new trails networks." In addition, the service could fund trails connected to key recreation sites with additional amenities available as part of the overall service, according to the release.
Campbell points to the North Cariboo Recreation Service - specifically the fact they have a trails coordinator - where they have seen the value of such a position.
"The idea would be to expand that concept across the region by having a trail expert on staff that would be able to engage with these groups as well as spend time on the field - identifying these locations and managing projects and improving them," stated Campbell.
The CRD says the regional service would allow them to "focus on funding the best projects within the whole region, rather than having to manage internal jurisdictional boundaries alongside funding inequities between different areas with varying population sizes" and in addition, the service "could also fund trails connected to key recreation sites with additional amenities available within them as part of the overall service."
In the release, one possible outline of the service would see residential taxation set to be around $1.30 per $100,000 assessed value, which the CRD says would raise $225,000 for the service. Campbell stated they want to avoid a situation in which certain people pay taxes for services while others do not, as trails are a "broad community asset."
"Both city municipal residents, residents within the District of 100 Mile House and rural residents benefit from them. We should all cost-share in the development and improvement to these trails," Campbell stated.
The establishment of regional trails and parks function for the CRD isn't new: in July 2020, according to a CRD memorandum from Aug. 23, information about the plan was presented to the board, which had directed staff to engage with municipal partners and to "determine the level of support and procure participating council resolutions." In June 2022, the committee of the whole received results of the municipal engagement process, but deferred discussion until after local government elections in the same year.
The memorandum states the CRD's neighbouring regional districts already have parks and trails function: Fraser Fort-George, Thompson-Nicola, Bulkley-Nechako and Peace River. The CRD states they have historically invested grant and recreation service funds into developing low-mobility trails throughout the region: such as ones in Pioneer Park, the 108 Mile Ranch and the Esler Sports Complex. However, it should be noted that broadly speaking, the regional trails service in other parts of B.C. don't share many similarities.
"Some [regional districts] only hold a minimum of assets in there - it might only be one or two trails or one or two properties - they tend to use it as just support for nonprofit groups with a very limited inventory - and do it within their existing focus while others in you know, in places like the Okanagan and the Kootenays, they've got very extensive regional park systems," the memorandum reads.
After a detailed discussion, which the release states included questions on further public engagement and conceptual funding model scenarios, the CRD board confirmed its desire to proceed with the establishment of a regional parks and trail service. The board would need to ratify the decision and then would share the proposal with municipal councils to determine their desire to participate, says the release.
Campbell says the trail service is expected to be created in 2025 and implemented in 2026.
