Portage Lakes in 'precarious position,' citing financial trouble

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The future of a popular outdoor destination that’s been part of many fond summer memories for Chaleur region residents for decades is uncertain.

Portage Lakes Club Inc., operating on leased Crown land, was hit with a liability insurance requirement hike the province put in place in 2023 for this year.

For the popular cabin rental club, it means a requirement for $5 million in liability insurance, up from $2 million – a one-time bill of $3,386 for the remainder of the current policy which expires in August. Then at least another $3,386 on top of the usual cost of the annual liability policy come renewal time.

To qualify, executive committee member Nancy Thomas said she was told a 30-year-old diesel tank on the property would need to be changed. An estimate for that job came back at $15,000.

She said the lease payment and property taxes are also due soon, and the environmental insurance renewal is due in September. She said other regular maintenance is also required and it’s all adding up to too much for the club.

“We’re in a precarious position. Our only income comes from memberships and from rentals,” she said, adding the club’s 2023 occupancies, which generate a majority of revenue in combination with annual memberships, were down significantly because of poor weather.

The not-for-profit club, which has six cabins available to rent, was built by Bathurst Paper and Power in the mid-1950s as a retreat for its employees and their guests. It was sold to the membership for $1 by Stone Consolidated Inc. in the early 1990s, and run by the membership since.

The club is located off Route 180, about an hour outside of Bathurst, and close to Mount Carleton Provincial Park. In 2023, the club had 139 members.

Following the club’s annual general meeting in mid-March, member Kevin Aubie took to social media, notifying the public of the camp’s potential closure, trying to come up with a solution to keep it running. Hundreds of people from the Chaleur region joined the group offering up ideas to fundraise and Aubie felt there was enough financial support to solve the immediate problems.

Aubie , now 59, said he’s been going to the camps since he was a young child, when his father was a mill employee.

He said he was upset the membership wasn’t notified of the new insurance requirement and financial trouble prior to the March meeting, since the executive was notified in November. He said talk of closing down the camps took place at the meeting.

Aubie said he’s “angry, heartbroken and determined” to keep the camps open to the public. He’s planning meetings with government officials in hopes there’s a way to take over the lease to keep the camps open to the public.

“Our community loves this destination and there’s just no reason it should be taken away.”

Thomas said the sale agreement to the membership outlines rules and regulations for the club to follow if it’s ever not able to support itself financially.

She said the club is run by the membership and many ideas being brought forward are from non-members, cost money or take time the group doesn’t have with bills coming due.

The executive doesn’t feel it can collect 2024 memberships because, as it stands, the club can’t open for the season, Thomas said.

“The bank account will dictate what gets done and what doesn’t.”

According to the Department of Natural Resources, lease holders of Crown land can assign it to another company. If the lease is cancelled outright, the land must be “rehabilitated and vacated.”

If the club does have to close, Thomas said it will also be costly because the club would be responsible to revert the land back to its original state.

“There doesn’t seem to be many options on the horizon right now,” she said.