The Shuswap Trail Alliance will be handling day-to-day operations on the Sicamous-to-Armstrong rail trail project as it moves into the design and planning stages.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) board agreed to retain the Trail Alliance for the managerial role based on their expertise with trail projects in the area and a recommendation from the Sicamous-to-Armstrong Rail Corridor Governance Advisory Committee. In making the appointment the CSRD was acting on behalf of their partners in the trail project: the Splatsin First Nation, the Regional District of North Okanagan and the District of Sicamous.
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Funds to assist the planning stage of the project were obtained through a $500,000 grant from the BC Rural Dividend Fund. The District of Sicamous and the CSRD’s Sicamous and Area E Economic Opportunity Fund each contributed $168,000.
“The Shuswap Trail Alliance has proven time and time again they are well prepared and knowledgeable. They are tried, tested and true in the Shuswap Region,” said CSRD Board Chair Rhona Martin.
The board approved the agreement with the Trail Alliance at their June 20 meeting.
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The trail alliance will also be able to help fundraise for the project. As a non-profit they can accept donations, issue tax receipts and collect donated funds in a reserve account for the project.
Grant applications totalling approximately $13 millions have been made to fund the actual construction of the trail. Once completed it will follow the disused railway corridor to connect the communities of Sicamous, Grindrod, Enderby, Spallumcheen and Armstrong.
The undeveloped rail trail corridor remains closed to public use at this time.
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