BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Skating Club will have to continue to pay the same ice-rental rates.
That is the decision Town of Barrhead councillors made during their Jan. 14 meeting when they unanimously voted to amend Policy 72-02. The policy governs how much the parks and recreation department charges for the use of their facilities and equipment.
More specifically councillors voted to amend the policy regarding Barrhead Agrena ice-time rental rates to reflect non-prime rates or the “dark times” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to $80 an hour.
Before the amendment ice-time rates were determined by usage, with youth activities such as hockey, figure skating and ringette being charged at $100 per hour in the fall to spring. The policy also set Monday to Friday before school use at $88 per hour and a weekday school rate at $44 per hour.
This is a reduction from the adult rate of $168 per hour.
However, the Barrhead Figure Skating Club, via a letter, asked councillors to consider reducing the rate to $80 an hour noting council in July 2019, amended the policy reducing ice-rental hours Monday to Friday before 6 p.m. to $80.
“We have found with the drop in casino funding this ice fee reduction would help support our shortfall and allow us to continue offering this sport to our community members,” stated Barrhead Skating Club treasurer Anjie Klein.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc noted that council did amend the Policy 72-02 reducing ‘adult practice time’ before 6 p.m. on weekdays as part of its negotiations with the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) to secure the Long Beach Bombers, Tier II Junior A franchise who were seeking to relocate.
Administration reached out to the WSHL after the town decided not to go forward with the -- Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA) franchise.
He added at the time, the policy did not specify a rate for daytime adult practices.
“We did a calculation, by seeking out what other communities with similar groups or teams charged and determined $80 an hour would be appropriate,” LeBlanc said.
It should be noted that the Barrhead Bombers reserve the ice between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for their weekday practices while the skating club generally practices between 4 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Mayor Dave McKenzie said one of the reasons why councillors agreed to the amendment and also sought out a Junior hockey franchise was to bring in additional revenue for the ‘dark times’ when the ice surface wasn’t being used.
“My suggestion is that we have a policy that states during our dark hours this is our rate, regardless of the use,” he said.
Coun. Rod Klumph agreed but suggested the dark hours would be between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., adding the demand for ice-time would increase dramatically after school is let out.
He then moved to amend the policy to state that the weekday ice-rental fee is $80 per hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
