Athabasca County council was divided on how to provide guidance to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society (ARMS) on the creation of a “bumping” policy during their Nov. 14 meeting.
The discussion came out of the Nov. 6 ARMS meeting, after the society moved to gather feedback from membership councils on the creation of a new policy for Multiplex administration to deal with bumping events to host others.
Multiplex manager Dustin Pysyk said the reason the brought the item to the ARMS board of directors is the Multiplex is increasingly being booked for “smaller” events on weekends, such as birthday parties, and administration needs guidance.
“I guess at the end of the day I’d ask yourselves a couple questions. Are we here for the money, bottom dollar takes precedence? Is it the community event – the bigger the community event – the bigger that trumps everything? Or simply first come first serve?” he said.
The Multiplex has a current bumping policy that applies to all facilities under the ARMS umbrella, and it allows for bumping of user groups three times in a calendar year. It does not go into further detail on who should be bumped and under what circumstances.
Coun. Christine Bilsky said “it is a tough one for sure,” and as she recalls when the Multiplex was built it was to serve as a replacement of the torn down community complex in town that was used for funerals and weddings.
“I do think sometimes you have to bump, and as unpleasant as it is it needs to be done,” she said. “I think overall it hasn’t raised too many issues.”
Coun. Kevin Haines said he is involved in a group that has been bumped “a lot,” but as a councillor, “we need to be able to bump for these types of events.”
Coun. Dennis Willcott said it is “not right to bump anybody.”
“Ratepayers paid for that Multiplex,” he said. “Me and everybody else. Just because tonight you’re going to have a big concert, and I paid to have that place up there … I don’t think it’s right.”
Coun. Larry Armfelt said there is a human element to the issue that needs to be considered, and although a birthday party does not create a lot of revenue, “boy, that’s important to that kid.”
Coun. Travais Johnson said the Multiplex should not be bumping anything, and sometimes with a birthday party “we don’t know who these people are.”
“They could be a CAO from Cenovus, that’s his granddaughter’s birthday party,” he said. “Then you go ask Cenovus for $100,000 for the building? You might’ve just shot yourself in the foot.”
Pysyk said user groups have already started booking birthday parties and other events on weekends around Christmas for one-hour time slots.
“That’s good for us, but if there’s a funeral, or somebody wants to hold something else, are we turning down that one hour booking for a full day thing?” he said.
Coun. Dwayne Rawson asked what the rush is in the case of a funeral.
“You aren’t getting any deader,” he said.
Coun. Warren Griffin said he does not like the idea of bumping, and suggested one solution could be only scheduling a certain number of days in advance.
Maier said if the Multiplex limits bookings to, say, 45 days, then the Multiplex would be limiting the numbers of events that are booked.
“You’re going to limit a lot of events if you have a policy like that, and my question is what do other facilities do?”
Coun. Penny Stewart said she does not agree with bumping, but some ground rules could be applied in months that cause issues, such as around Christmas.
After a lengthy discussion, Willcott said he was willing to make a motion for “no bumping.”
“I would make a motion for no bumping and let’s see where it goes, because it’s going round and round,” he said.
Maier re-read Willcott’s motion, which was that county council recommend the Multiplex board delete the bumping policy.
The vote was called, and the motion was defeated five to four in an unrecorded vote. There were no further motions.
