City Council to review Recreation Centre Ice Fee options at Special Council session today

With City Council having received a fair share of push back from user groups concerned about increased fees at the Civic Centre in recent months, Council put the issue back in the hands of the Recreation Commission putting the topic on hold at their most recent August Council session.

At that council meeting, members of the Prince Rupert Adult Hockey League outlined their concerns over the increase to ice rental fees, that contribution to the discussion can be reviewed here.

Other groups with concerns over the new fee schedule included the Prince Rupert Minor Hockey Association and the Prince Rupert Skating Club.

Ice Fees at the City's Civic Centre Rink will be the focus of tonight's
Special Session of Council set for 5 PM

With all of those contributions to the them to consider, it would appear that the review from that body has been completed and the topic will be the focus of a Special Council Session called for tonight at 5 PM at City Council chambers.

During tonight's session, Council will review a report provided by Ms. Will Thorpe, the Director of Recreation and Community Services that outlines some of the changes to the user fee formula for city's ice rink.

Among the recommendations to Council are:

A change in Prime ice fees

Prime  = non-prime rates at times 1.1 for the 2016-17 season, with Prime increases to be set at 10 percent each year moving forward, concluding on August 31st of 2021.

An adjustment of "Prime Time" to end each evening at 11 PM

Adjustments to the annual rate calendar to run from September 1- August 31

It is also noted in the report that the suggested change will result in a reduction of approximately $24,000 in ice rental revenue for 2016. The city's anticipated financial position indicates that the department can absorb that impact for 2016.

The report also observes that adopting an incremental approach to youth and adult ice fees will reflect alignment with the needs of local families and fee increases affecting the Recreation complex.

Council will vote to accept the recommendations or discuss the issue further at tonight's session.

You can review the full report to Council from page two of the Agenda for the Special session.

More items of interest related to City Council discussions can be found on our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review