BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead may have an extra $1.5 million to spend to enhance recreational activities.
That will largely depend on whether the Camp Creek Community Club agrees with what the county eventually presents as part of its community hall strategy.
But the first step, which councillors approved at their Oct. 18 meeting, was to authorize the county to enter into a two-year agreement to put the $1.5 million into an interest-bearing trust account.
The club received the money from selling its community hall property in Camp Creek to Pembina Pipelines.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun stated the club wishes their donation "would benefit all county residents".
"Specifically, for community and recreation purposes," she said.
Reeve Doug Drozd said he was concerned that the club would have to remain active even though they no longer had a community hall to maintain.
"Keeping your volunteers engaged for two years, or potentially even longer, could prove difficult," he said.
Oyarzun was not worried, saying she believed that all they would need to do to keep their not-for-profit society status was to hold an annual general meeting.
History
In June, the community hall club gave a presentation to councillors asking for their help in potentially replacing the hall.
"We don't want to go through that whole process again, from buying a piece of property and everything else. If we could work with the county, and perhaps using other community money, build something bigger, better and more centrally located. So that it would be that much more used," community hall club member Bill Lee said.
He later stated that the club hoped to have the county put the money into trust under the county's administration.
Oyarzun, at the time, said that in order for the municipality to enter into such an agreement with the club, they would have to accelerate the work on their community hall strategy, which is set to begin until sometime in 2023.
On Sept. 21, at the Glenreagh Community Hall, the county hosted an engagement session in which it invited the players from all the community hall associations in the county, including the Camp Creek Club, to gather information about what they believe are the challenges they face along with potential actions they and the municipality can make to ensure their survival.
A report from the session is nearly complete, and Oyarzun expects to present it to councillors at a soon-to-be-announced council meeting.
"At the end of the day, we expect (the report) will help us develop a community hall strategy, and that will provide us with the approach in how the county can support community hall facilities in our boundaries," she said. "Through that strategy, (administration) will be able to come up with a recommendation on how to best use the (Camp Creek Club) funds."
If, after all that, the Camp Creek Club does not like what the county proposed, their money, with interest, will be returned to them.
Oyarzun added the agreement between the club and the county can also be extended if mutually agreed upon.
"If the club agrees with our recommendation, we would have to negotiate another agreement on how to proceed," she said.
.jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
