Council’s motion to approve a request to discount Sundre Arena ice rental fees for some user groups was not carried with unanimous consent.
During the Jan. 21 meeting, council considered a Shooters ladies' hockey team request for a partial refund on its ice rental fees because there was no hot water in the change rooms throughout October, November and December.
“I understand that they have been going through this for quite a few years — we’ve had problems with the shower,” said Sue Nelson, community services manager.
“We did do a temporary fix, and we thought we had it fixed for a while in October,” she said, adding that measure did not last very long and that a plumber was brought in to remedy the situation.
“Once we got a quote, we knew we were able to get it fixed right away instead of waiting until next spring when we were shut down. The showers are fixed now; hopefully we’re going to have water for the next 10 years, unless we get a new arena.”
Administration recommended council give a discount to the Shooters ladies' hockey team proportionate to ice time versus shower time, as well as to all other groups who use the showers, in an amount not to exceed $3,260.
Coun. Paul Isaac made a motion to that effect, initiating a discussion.
Coun. Cheri Funke sought clarification, and wanted to confirm that the groups in question paid for 1 1/2 hours of ice time but were actually in the building for 2 1/2 hours.
Nelson said different groups had different times, but that they generally had half an hour in the change rooms both before and after their allotted ice time.
Coun. Charlene Preston wondered whether the user groups pay any dressing room fees.
“The amount that they pay right now is just for use of the ice,” answered Nelson.
Coun. Richard Warnock said the roughly $3,200 represents “quite a bit of money for our budget. But in good faith, I wish to speak in favour of the motion because this has been going on for some time, and I’m happy to hear that it’s been fixed for hopefully the next 10 years,” he said, adding, “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Coun. Rob Wolfe also spoke in favour, saying that not having hot water is a challenge for the groups who use the change rooms. However, the councillor added he has since heard rumours that the water is now too hot.
“Has anybody else heard that?”
The community services manager said staff have been hearing both that the water is too hot and that it is just right.
“We have turned down the temperature a bit, and we’re just waiting to see if the user groups are finding that it’s all right,” said Nelson.
Determining an ideal temperature is tough since some people prefer hotter water than others, she said.
Speaking against the motion, Funke said the ice agreement reads that the municipality is not held responsible for any cancellations because of acts of God, business interruptions, or mechanical failures.
“Since they only pay for the ice time, I believe that this clause will go towards the showers. They don’t pay for the amount of time they’re in the dressing room. It doesn’t stop them from playing hockey, because they can or cannot have a shower. And this is the only group that we’ve heard of that has come forward asking for the discount,” she said.
Mayor Terry Leslie was in favour of the motion, and expressed an apology to the groups that had been impacted by the situation.
“We need to take responsibility for what has taken place. We need to have other groups and organizations that come into our community know that we fix what we can,” said Leslie.
“And we need to recognize that we should compensate those folks for some of the inconvenience that they have had to deal with.”
The mayor added that only groups that have written in to express concerns should be compensated.
“There may be groups that say ‘no, it doesn’t affect us.’ And I leave that to administration to administer,” he said.
Funke said council should start discussing the possibility of introducing dressing room fees during its upcoming spring workshop.
Isaac’s motion narrowly carried with Warnock, Wolfe and Leslie in favour, and Coun. Todd Dalke, Preston and Funke against.
