WINDSOR, N.S. — West Hants council is hoping its warden will be able to help the Town of Windsor and Windsor Agricultural Society reach an agreement for the sake of ice users in Hants County.
During a special committee of the whole meeting in West Hants April 17, Warden Abraham Zebian brought forward a letter from Louis Coutinho, the town's chief administrative officer, asking the municipality to help cost-share an extension for the 2018/19 ice rental season.
In January 2014, the Town of Windsor voted to sever its long-standing agreement with the agricultural society as they pursued the idea of building an arena befitting of the town's Birthplace of Hockey claim. The new rink was to be built by September 2018, with the agreement with the agricultural society expiring in April 2018. With construction on the arena project at a standstill, the town sought an extension to the 1981 Hants Exhibition Arena agreement it had with the Windsor Agricultural Society.
The letter to council, dated April 17, indicated the society is requesting the town pay $4,000 a month in rent from October 2018 to April 2018 — an expense the town didn't pay in the past.
The letter states: “The additional cost could be passed onto the users of the arena in higher user fees or the two municipalities could cost-share equitably on the rental cost to keep the ice rental fees close to previous rates for the user.”
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Want to read more about the arena project? Here are some previous stories.
- Provincial Long Pond funding announced
- Construction set for Long Pond/KES location
- Joint ownership between Windsor, West Hants councils given go ahead
- Windsor Agricultural Society pitches the exhibition grounds as prime location
- Windsor mayor rooting for Long Pond site after KES pulls funding
- Federal funding for project up in the air
- Council, stakeholders reviewing findings of Windsor arena site feasibility study
- Windsor council ignores final plea to reconsider Long Pond arena location
- Windsor Hockey Heritage Society throws support behind town's arena project
If West Hants agreed to cost-share the rental fee 50-50, the municipality would be on the hook for $10,000.
Councillors had several questions about the request, with several expressing concerns over the town passing the fee onto the users.
“I'd rather not see it passed onto the users. It's already a very expensive undertaking to rent for an hour,” said Coun. Tanya Leopold. “A lot of rentals come from minor hockey associations and minor aged athletes. So it's already fairly pricey to rent an hour of ice.”
Leopold wanted to know if the full $4,000 monthly rental would be passed onto the ice users if there isn't cost-sharing. She asked if council could have a discussion with the Town of Windsor when they next meet for joint council. However, since West Hants is trying to pass its budget this month, councillors were cautioned about waiting as this request could have budget implications.
Warden Abraham Zebian suggested he speak with the agricultural society in an effort to “bridge the gap” between the two entities.
“Maybe I can act as a liaison and maybe we can get cooler heads to prevail here and maybe have this cost eliminated for the sake of all of our residents and to not increase user fees or to reduce the exposure of rising expenses being passed on through user fees,” he said.
“I would rather approach it that way rather than try to add it on to a line item to the budget that we're almost complete. I think there's better ways to handle this.”
Zebian said he sees it as a negotiation as “the agricultural society has provided these guys this facility for 40-some-odd years rent free.”
Councillors voted in favour of recommending to council that Zebian try to mediate the situation.
