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by Daniel Martins

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Although the president of the Miramichi Outback Trailrunners ATV Club said Saturday's long-awaited ATV run on the Sentier NB Trail was a success, his frustration with the city's handling of the ATV issue is considering resigning.

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"I've tried to make it work now for five years, and I did get the club going where we have a good sized club going ... but it's just too hard working against the people of this area," Bryant Savoy said the day before the run.

City council approved the club's one-time use of the trail in July. Under the terms, the club would be allowed to use the 1.4-kilometre stretch of the trail for four hours as part of their annual get-together and barbecue on Aug. 23, provided they took care of all public signage and advertising for the event and paid for any damage to the trail.

Savoy said the city was not supporting a sport whose growing popularity in Canada could be good for tourism for the city.

"Nobody seems to want this to work in the area," Savoy said, adding his club often receives calls from ATVers looking to vacation in the Miramichi.

For the Saturday event, he says he received no support from the event after it had been approved, even having to go to city hall to fetch the keys to the trail's gates himself rather than having a city employee take care of it. He said he was initially wary of the idea.

"That means if anybody else goes in and destroys the trail over the weekend, we're going to be held responsible," he said. "So I didn't like that idea, but it was either that or they'd stay locked."

Although he had some worries about police coverage for the event, they turned out to be unfounded.

"We had to cross highways five times each way, and the police were present at every intersection," Savoy said. "We were very pleased with the assistance that the police had to offer us. They were there to stop traffic to see that we got through the city without any incidents."

He said the run from Loggieville Community Centre turned out to be "the very best", better than if the club had to go to an ATV trail outside the city.

"It was nice to be able to leave from our club and return on our ATVs without having to load them on trailers and drive 40 miles," he noted.

He said the club encountered only two walkers, and gave them a wide berth, and there was no damage to the trail afterward.

"It was a beautiful day, it was a nice run and the world didn't come to an end," he joked. "It's a shame we can't have the use of this trail, especially when we offered to maintain it free of charge."

The city's public works director, Frank Duffy, confirmed that the ATV club had been given the keys to the trail.

When asked why the city did not send someone to take care of the keys and open the gates, Duffy referred to the council motion originally authorizing the one-time use of the trail.

"For me to bring somebody in and pay them four hours at double time doesn't make much sense, especially when is says all public advertising, signage, et cetera be the responsibility of the ... club," Duffy said.

"I was directed to give them the keys. They're to bear the expense, the city wasn't to bear any expense over this."

He noted that the situation was not one that happened on a regular basis, and was the only time it had ever occurred as far as he was aware.

Coun. Robert Trevors said he had been originally opposed to the idea of the club's use of the trail primarily because it was designed for walkers, not ATVers.

He said the current council had not had many dealings with the club aside from authorizing the trail's one-time use, but expressed his hope that the city could work with the club so that a sister trail for ATVers could become a reality in the city.

"I would fully support the trail," Trevors said Sunday. "It's a great sport, and we all know the sport generates major dollars in the area."

He also expressed his belief that when one heard negative things about ATVs, it was usually due to the actions of a few users, rather than the majority.