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Town provides funding to complete second phase of heritage trail

The $21,000 discretionary grant is the first money the town has put toward the rehabilitation of the Upper Canada Heritage Trail. The town is also contributing staff time to do the work.
Kris Dube
heritage-trail-aug-23
Trail committee chair Rick Meloen (right) talked to Coun. Gary Burroughs and Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa about the need for fundraising at a meeting on the trail in July.Penny Coles

The Upper Canada Heritage Trail in Niagara-on-the-Lake and a committee working to rehabilitate the piece of recreational infrastructure can add another party to its list of financial contributors. 

That would be the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, who will be pitching in $21,000 to continue the project to Line 3 before the end of the year. 

This comes after a decision made by council last week, voting on a motion brought forward by Coun. Wendy Cheropita. 

A federal grant of $250,000 is considered “unlikely to succeed,” said Cheropita’s motion, who also expressed urgency about getting the work done in a timely fashion “before the weather turns bad.” 

It was also approved that town labour be contributed as an in-kind contribution, and that another report come in the near future to provide more information on what that adds up to in the long term. 

The $21,000 will come from the town’s discretionary grant fund. 

Coun. Gary Burroughs asked staff if it would be more appropriate to take the amount from Municipal Accommodation Tax funding, to which treasurer Kyle Freeborn suggested the trail would not qualify because it isn’t a tourism asset. 

Freeborn sees the trail as “more of a local piece of infrastructure.”

Coun. Erwin Wiens expressed support for the project, pointing out that town has not been approached for funding in the past, and that the trail is well used. 

Fundraising for the Upper Canada Heritage Trail began seven years ago. 

Beginning at John Street, a four-phase plan will eventually see the project end at York Road after 10 kilometres of trail are rehabilitated with new granular stone, and unwanted vegetation is removed.

The first phase from John Street to East and West Line is complete, and the second phase to Line 3 is what will be completed with the latest contribution. 

Once the second phase is wrapped up, the town committee that was formed to move the project ahead will be out of money, explained its vice-chair Tony Chisholm in an interview with The Local in September. They will have gone through the $171,000 raised, plus a $60,000 grant, he said at that time.