Grey Highlands council will not be taking any immediate steps to lower the fees it charges to rent its various halls, kitchens and arena floors.
At a committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 27, council had a wide-ranging discussion about hall rental fees. In April, council approved a new fees and charges bylaw that increased a number of fees and rental rates at municipal facilities. Many of the rates had not been increased for a number of years.
Subsequently, council heard anecdotal stories from the public about significant fee increases for hall rentals. At the meeting, councillors shared examples of rental increases they have heard about at a recent town hall meeting in Maxwell and via email.
Ultimately, council faced the question of whether or not to re-examine the fees it is charging for hall rentals or wait for a year’s worth of rental data to be complete for further review. At the time of the new fees being adopted, municipal staff promised a full review of the impacts of the new fees after a year’s time.
Council approved requesting a staff report about the possibility of adding block rental fees (a lower rate for those who may rent local halls for longer periods of time) to the fees and charges bylaw. A more extensive review of the rates will come when the staff report comes at the conclusion of the first year of the new rate structure.
Although council decided to stay on the course on the fees, it did not arrive at that decision without plenty of discussion.
Some members of council suggested the new fees may have created some unintended consequences in the community and should be re-examined.
“I think we do need to make some adjustments here,” said Mayor Paul McQueen. “We need to find some quick solutions.”
Coun. Joel Loughead suggested that the decision to include a 20 per cent premium on rentals from those who don’t reside in Grey Highlands should be re-visited. Loughead said he had heard stories of non-residents finding ways to work around the premium. Loughead noted that in many cases the non-residents renting a local hall might live just outside of Grey Highlands across a municipal boundary.
“(The 20 per cent premium) was a good idea at the time,” said Loughead. “It feels exclusionary in a way we don’t want. The point is: it’s going to be worked around.”
Other members of council said some of the increases to the rates were long overdue and council needed to wait out the year to examine the impact.
“Let’s get the full picture,” said Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen.
Coun. Paul Allen noted that in some cases the previous fees had been “ridiculously low.” Allen pointed out that in the previous bylaw the Rocklyn Hall and its full commercial kitchen could be rented for an entire day at a cost of $75.
“I think we need to stand behind our decisions and give it the year,” said Allen. “We need to stick by our decisions and get the true data.”
