Whether by donation or waiving the Sundre Community Centre’s rental fee, council intends to continue supporting the annual hospital gala.
Organizers of the 2018 Sundre Hospital Futures Legacy Gala, which is scheduled to take place Nov. 10 at the Sundre Community Centre, requested council consider waiving the approximately $750 facility rental fee, Betty Ann Fountain, the town's development officer, informed council during the July 30 meeting.
Coun. Paul Isaac made a motion to waive the rental fee for the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee, initiating a discussion.
“Although I do support the gala as a whole,” said Coun. Rob Wolfe, “I don’t want to see this as a precedence-setting issue. Everybody knows that the futures (committee) is something that we need here because we need this hospital. I just don’t want all of these other groups that do rent this facility to come to us asking us for the same thing over and over again.”
Coun. Todd Dalke wondered whether the $750 was for one night.
Chief administrative officer Linda Nelson said the hospital futures committee requires three days to account for the gala’s setup and takedown.
“If someone wanted to rent it out, what do they pay? ($750) sounds high to me,” said Dalke.
Factoring in the $250 deposit, which is refundable, the rental cost for the time requested by the committee would be closer to $500, said Nelson.
“Do we not have a non-profit charge?” asked Coun. Cheri Funke, to which Fountain said she would need to seek clarification.
“The only time we would come forward and ask for a fee waiver is if it’s for a community event,” said Nelson.
“If it was somebody coming in to make a profit then we wouldn’t be making a request. But when it’s for the community and the money goes back to the community, that’s why this would come forward.”
Mayor Terry Leslie wondered if Isaac’s motion should be amended to waive “up to” $750, and Nelson suggested setting the amount at $500 since the deposit would most likely be refunded anyway. The councillor was not opposed to changing his motion.
However, Dalke said whenever a town-owned facility is rented out, there is still a cost to the municipality in terms of, for example, staff time that can rack up into the hundreds of dollars.
“I can understand doing a reduced rate,” he said, suggesting perhaps instead considering offering the hospital futures committee a $500 donation, which would include a tax receipt, rather than outright waiving the rental fee.
Nelson said administration could look into the municipality’s fee schedule to consider the alternative approach to waiver requests.
“That’s a good point,” she said.
Coun. Richard Warnock wondered how the previous council approached the request for the gala, which will be held for the third consecutive year.
Funke confirmed the former council, which she was a part of, had waived the rental fee in the past.
“I get Todd’s point, and I agree with Todd’s point,” said Funke, wondering whether the matter could be back-benched until the next meeting so council could be presented with more information that might help to choose between offering a donation or waiving the rental fee.
Nelson said that certainly is an option, and Coun. Charlene Preston moved to table the motion.
Council was to make a decision during last night’s meeting.
