BARRHEAD - Town of Barrhead councillors pressed the hold button on approving the majority of its Fees and Rates Bylaw, tabling the document until they can get clarification on several items.
The only exception is the change of the rate for the upstairs meeting room of the Agrena, which the council approved following an in-camera session.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc said every year, administration reviews its rates and fee schedule, comparing them to similar-sized municipalities in the region to see if they are comparable, and recommend adjusting if necessary, adding they found a few discrepancies they believe should be changed to some of the parks and recreation fee schedule rates.
"We discovered the rate we charge for [Agrena's upstairs meeting room] might be too high, and the amount we charge for renting our baseball diamonds might be on the low side," he said.
According to the public agenda package, currently, the town charges renters the same rate for the upstairs meeting room as the Charles Godberson Rotary Room, which is considerably larger.
The seating capacity of the upstairs meeting room is 20 compared to 175 for the Charles Godberson Rotary Room. The rooms' hourly, half-day and full-day rates are $51, $102, and $153.05 (not including the GST), respectively.
The new proposed rates, which council again approved following an in-camera session) for the upstairs meeting room are $24, $64 and $96 (not including GST), respectively.
LeBlanc explained administration came up with their recommendation by averaging the rates of similarly sized meeting rooms in municipal facilities in Westlock, Whitecourt and Edson, all of which were lower, while the half-day rate they opted to take a percentage (66.6 per cent) of the full-day rate.
He added they used the same averaging technique to come up with the full-day rental rate for the baseball diamonds, which the municipality had not adjusted for several years and were considerably below the rates of the nearby communities of Westlock, Whitecourt, Hinton and Edson. The current full-day rental rate for a baseball diamond at the Barrhead Sportsgrounds, as listed on the bylaw summary page, is $35, and if the bylaw is approved, it will increase to $87. The fees don't include the GST.
Coun. Anthony Oswald said he was confused when looking at the bylaw's fee schedule for the baseball diamonds, saying it listed several rates for full-day rental for minor baseball, tournaments, non-league teams (games and practices), as well as what looks like an annual administration fee for baseball, slow-pitch and minor baseball leagues.
He also had questions about off-season ice rink rentals, specifically what constituted full and half days.
LeBlanc said he did not know.
Oswald also had a question regarding ice rental prices, noting the fee schedule included hourly ice-rental fees for weekday minor hockey ice fees from Monday to Friday; it did not include prime-time weekend ice.
However, hourly rates for competitive hockey games are listed, most of which occur on the weekend.
Coun. Dausen Kluin asked if the Barrhead Minor Ball Association had been notified about a potential and noticeable price change.
LeBlanc said no.
Kluin also asked about whether a group had the ability, when renting an Agrena facilty, such as the ice-surface, whether they would have the ability to also rent the kitchen facility.
“I know we have a contractor in there, but I can still rent it if I have an event?” he asked.
LeBlanc said yes, adding having a vendor at the Agrena kitchen, doesn’t stop other groups from renting the feature. Later in the meeting, following the in-camera session, the council renewed the contract with Agrena’s concession contractors, Peter Staley and Jennifer Webber, until March 2027.
Coun. Ty Assaf moved to table the bylaw until administration had more answers, suggesting if councillors had any other questions or concerns, they should direct them to LeBlanc so he could get the answers and present them or include them in an updated bylaw for council to consider.
