A five thousand dollar cheque donation made by Fire Chief David Humphrey on behalf of the Cochrane Pipeline Operators Committee (CPOC) brings the concept of a centralized bike park closer to fruition.

Ross Stirling, President of Bike Cochrane, says they are thrilled with the support they have received thus far. “We are getting such great support to build a central place for the Cochrane families to come together and ride bikes.  We are grateful to the Cochrane Pipeline Operators Committee for such generous support of this community project."

While the 5,000 dollar cheque is only a fraction of funding needed, Humphrey says the CPOC is thrilled to be involved. "They are on a journey to build this facility and we know this will only be one small portion of monies that they will look for over time. I also think there will be a lot of labour in-kind given by people in the biking community to build the park, from what I understand."

The Cochrane Pipeline Operators Committee supports organizations and projects that benefit the entire community. "They look for things that relate to growth within people, growth within the community, and from a safety lense perspective. Having the Bike Cochrane Society work towards the bike pump park near the Garmin building in an accessible spot for youth and young people to practice their skills fits the criteria and helps build our community."

Fire Chief Humphrey is the Chairman of the Cochrane Pipeline Operators Committee and shares the corporations that sit on the board are the decision-makers as to where they want their funding dollars to go to. "We are very fortunate that the Cochrane Pipeline Operators Committee looks at Cochrane first and then those agencies or groups that are on the fringe but call Cochrane home."

Cochrane Fire Services and our town's Emergency Management has been involved with CPOC since they were envisioned in the early 90s. Former fire chief Brian Winters set up the committee to represent the corporations that have pipeline rights within our community.