Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick, Manager of Parks, Recreation and Facilities Wayne Mihalicz and City CAO Scott Sommerville met with a group of seniors at the Aquatic Centre last Friday, to hear their concerns around a new, draft Recreation Facilities Rental Rates Bylaw.
The concern was that the draft bylaw includes a drop in rate for Aquafit classes of $2.10 over and above what the users have already paid for passes.
The meeting was organized by Betty Ann Ogilvie, a frequent user of the pool, who objects to the drop in rate.
“To me a drop-in is someone who walks in, who doesn’t have a pass,” she said.
Sommerville explained that the user fee bylaw is updated every couple of years, and that the fees were put into the draft plan. He stressed that it is a draft plan and that Council and staff look for feedback before adopting bylaws.
“This is why we don’t adopt bylaws in one night,” he said. “I’m hearing that the $2.10 created a firestorm.”
A number of those who attend Aquafit gave testimonials on what the program meant to them.
“Ill be 77 this year,” said Gerri. “I am healthier at 77 than I was at 57 and doing what I’m doing here is a big part of that. This program is a huge contributor. I live on a fixed income. Money is an issue, a big issue. I can afford what I’m doing now. Any increase, however you label it, and I would have to give up something else. That’s short term. Long term, if I stop maintaining my health it will cost the whole system a whole lot more money.”
Another gentleman, Al, said that he’d had a bad accident several years ago and if it wasn’t for the pool he wouldn’t have the mobility he had now.
“I can afford the increase,” he said. “But others are not so lucky.”
Somerville pointed out that the cost of operating the pool went up every year and that it was a balancing act to provide services and keep up with costs.
He was asked about Bootleg Gap and the original deal in which some monies from the golf course would go to the aquatic centre each year.
“They contribute $70,000 per year in lieu of what they would be charged in taxes if not owned by the city,” Sommerville said. He also said that in round figures the pool costs $1 million per year to run and generates only $300,000 in revenue.
Mayor Don McCormick said that the pool is considered by Council to be a core service.
“We have certain facilities we consider core and we happily subsidize those,” he said. The campground and Bootleg Gap, both owned by the city, are not considered core services, and both make money, he said.
“No pool makes money,” Ogilvie said. “but to us who use the pool to be charged a drop in fee when we have passes, that’s wrong. Bootleg users buy a golf pass, are you going to charge them $2 to use the cart path? At the campground, do people have to pay extra to use the pool? This is the same thing.”
It was also pointed out that increasing usership of the pool would increase revenues.
Sommerville said that when the draft bylaw was written, the writer may not have been aware of how many Aquafit class members already had bought pool passes.
“I’m hearing we made a mistake,” he said. “We need feedback to do our job properly. I think we need a drop in fee for people who do drop in, but not for pass holders.”
“There are a great variety of different user groups,” McCormick said. “In the course of analysis, the impact on the seniors’ group got missed. This is all part of consideration of getting the fee structure right, so thank you for bringing it to our attention.”
McCormick said that the total number of passes was barely 100 and the city needed to do a much better job of marketing the aquatic centre and getting more use.
“There is large inflationary pressure every year, utilities are going up and it’s difficult to manage. It’s a real balancing act. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes not. When we get it wrong, we say we get it wrong.”
The bylaw went to Council on Tuesday evening, modified to address the seniors’ concerns about Aquafit charges.