The Town of Hawkesbury now has an official agreement that will help support recreational snowmobiling as part of the town’s winter tourism economy.
Hawkesbury council approved a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding between the municipality and the Eastern Ontario Snowmobile Club (EOSC). The club has similar agreements between itself and East Hawkesbury Township, Alfred-Plantagenet Township, The Nation Municipality, and the United Counties of Prescott-Russell.
The agreement, which spans a period of time from October 15 2024 to May 1 2029, allows EOSC members, and visiting snowmobilers riding as guests of the EOSC, to use designated municipal right-of-ways that connect to EOSC trails in the area.
This agreement applies only to the winter season and only to designated municipal routes. Both the municipality and the EOSC will have maps that mark out those designated routes that are available to snowmobilers as crossing points to between EOSC trails. The agreement does not mean snowmobilers are allowed to drive their machines on any or all streets in the municipality.
As part of the conditions of the agreement the EOSC will provide grooming assistance, if needed, for the designated routes, and will also provide up $15 million in liability insurance coverage. This liability insurance applies to cases of proven negligence by the club or by snowmobilers using the designated routes.
The club will also provide signage identifying designated snowmobile routes for both snowmobilers and residents of the municipality. The club will also do trail cleanup and repair any damage caused by snowmobilers.
The EOSC is one of the largest organized clubs in the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. It has 390 kilometres of connected trails throughout the Prescott-Russell region. Some of these trails are also linked to other trail networks in neighbouring regions of Ontario, allowing visiting snowmobilers direct routes to the Prescott-Russell region.
