The Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives will not have to pony up the $900 extra for rent proposed in March.
At their Sept. 25 meeting, the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society redrew lease agreements for their four long-term lease rental properties: the library, the Athabasca Teen Centre, the Athabasca Pottery Club and the Whispering Hills Daycare.
“All the lease agreements could be more clear on what the Multiplex is responsible and what the renter is responsible for,” said Multiplex general manager Dustin Pysyk, who was responsible for drafting the lease. “The object of this lease agreement was to get a universal base and then work off of that.”
The least now stipulates that all properties are responsible for their own maintenance and janitorial work. Pysyk said that is the biggest change, and all properties but the library were taking care of their own janitorial work anyway.
The agreement also states that tenants must be notified six months in advance of any changes to rent, and those changes may not come into effect until Sept. 1.
The subject came up after the Multiplex society evaluated their lease agreements at the beginning of the year and decided it was costing them extra money to operate the library.
“We determined that (the library is) getting a pretty good service for what they’re paying,” Pysyk said. “So then we were going to raise the rate, but then we all realized that one group is paying for janitorial out of their pockets, one group’s not.”
The suggested increase would have been $900 per month – nearly double the $1,164 the library was paying. Following the proposal, the library pushed back, leading to the lease discussions.
Alice B. Donahue Library board chair Paula Evans said she would not comment on the changes to the lease, as she said Oct. 6 the document had not yet been presented to them. She said the board’s next meeting is Oct. 12, and hoped to see the lease then.
