A stand of oak trees covering about two acres was cut down Tuesday to make way for further excavation Mono’s town-owned Klondike gravel pit on County Road 16 east of Blind Line.

The action, taken to ensure adequate aggregate supplies for road projects in the town, has strained the relations between Mono Council and the Mono Nordic Ski Club, which has had cross-country ski trails on the pit’s perimeter for 25 years.

With permission from the town, the club operates and maintains the trails at its own expense.

The club’s Ross Martin was upset at the clearing operation, as well as the resulting loss of trails.

“The loss of the oak trees is big because it was a forest plot and a thriving hardwood reforestation,” said Mr. Martin. “Seed trees were showing up everywhere. I think that’s what got me the most.”

There have also been differences of opinion as to how much the town saves from using aggregate from its own pit, as opposed to purchasing it elsewhere and transporting it in.

One side has pointed out that the savings, per ton, from self extraction are not that great and could be nullified once the costs of pit operation and required rehabilitation are taken into account.

Mono public works director Mike Dunmore argues, however, that the price at point of purchase is just part of the equation. He points to a page from the winning tender for the Second Line reconstruction south of 5 Side Road.

The tender outlines the cost of approximately 7,700 cubic metres of “B” gravel taken by the contractor from the townowned pit as opposed to shipping it in. The tender reads a price of $7.10/cm from the pit and $10.20/cm from another location.

Besides the base cost, the price factors in the loading, hauling, placing and compacting of the product.

Haulage, Mr. Dunmore said, can be overlooked or underestimated. For example, the Second Line will require 36,000 tons of “B” gravel. At 14 tons per truckload, it would require close to 2,600 trips and Mr. Dunmore says the costs could never be accurately predetermined when such costs as fuel and vehicle availability come into play.

If town trucks were required, he said, other town road maintenance obligations, such as grading and filling potholes, would be compromised.

Ski Club and recreation proponents may be in a more difficult position when it comes to arguing their case. While the business benefits of the pit can be presented from an immediate number-crunching perspective, the economic benefits from recreational activities are presented in more abstract terms.

For example, it’s conventional wisdom that involvement in recreational activities, such as cross-country skiing, results in a healthier population that would be less of a burden on the health care system.

As well, when municipalities are bidding to attract new business, it’s well documented that an advantage rests with communities with the better recreational facilities.

At a council meeting last July, ski club spokesman Usman Valiante urged councillors to “think outside the box” on the issue. “The position we have is that we want what’s in the best interests of the town,” he said. “There’s a tendency to undervalue” recreational use of land.

By making gravel extraction the ultimate priority, he said, “there will be fiscal savings in one area. But there will be costs in another.”

Although the land would eventually be rehabilitated, “its utility value won’t be the same.”

He said the topography of the trails, with their particular elevations and curves, make the area around the pit “a world class” cross-country ski- ing facility.

Altering the trail system through extraction, he explained, will mean that the facility will not be as good, regardless of what rehabilitation takes place.

Mr. Dunmore said rehabilitation costs would be lower at the Mono pit because developers in the area can place their excess fill – which will be quality monitored via soil samples – at the site. He said trees can be available at a very reasonable cost and a good deal of the planting could be done voluntarily by community organizations.

He also said the decision to close off certain portions of the gravel pit trail was prompted by safety issues. The trails being cut, he said, are those considered too close to the steep slopes of the pit.

Mr. Martin, meanwhile, is not convinced the pit expansion is so urgent, since infrastructure projects largely funded by upper-tier governments will grind to a halt as such funding ends.

“I’m very convinced that (council) is not making this judgement very wisely.”

The issue is on the agenda for next Tuesday’s council meeting, which will take place at 7 p.m. at the town offices.