Pathways to keep rolling

Recovering abandoned bicycles and returning of them to their owners will continue to be the responsibility of Pathways Abilities Society.

Kelowna city council is expected Monday to renew a five-year contract with the group, which provides services and employment opportunities to individuals with developmental challenges.

The proposal is for the city to pay the group about $70,000 between this year and 2024 for the bike retrieval program.

That's a slightly higher amount than was provided for under the most recent, nowexpired five-year contract, with the difference resulting from an inflation adjustment.

Members of the Kelowna RCMP advise Pathways representatives where discarded bikes can be picked up.

The group logs information about the bike into a database and attempts to return the bikes to their rightful owners.

Bikes are held for at least 90 days and then are sold, disassembled for parts, or thrown in the trash. The society has had the bike contract since 1995.

“The service provided by Pathways Abilities Society has relieved the RCMP or other city staff of costs and efforts that would be associated with retrieving bicycles, finding the owners, and storing bicycles,” reads part of a staff report. “As well, this agreement has also provided meaningful activities for adults with developmental disabilities in areas of customer sales, bicycle repairs and maintenance, computer skills, public interaction and money handling,” the report states.