LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A Feb. 8 committee of the whole meeting ended with the village agreeing not to raise rent for two Fort Simpson nonprofit organizations.

The Curling Club was one of three organizations to come to council with concerns about renewing their lease agreements. In the back, from left, are Coun. Bob Hanna and curling club members Neil Mitchell, Vanessa Murtsell and Forrest McQuade. In front, from left, are Coun. Muaz Hassan and deputy mayor Jarret Hardisty. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

The Open Doors Society, which provides free programming for children, and the Open Sky Creative Society, which provides free or low-cost arts and cultural programming for the community, both had representatives on-hand to deliver speeches to committee members on why their rent should remain the same.

Both organizations pay $500 per month in rent for the use of space in village buildings, which works out to $525 when GST is factored in. Over the past month, their new lease agreements with the village have bounced back and forth between committee and council meetings as village representatives sought a solution to help pay for maintenance of the aging recreation centre.

During a Jan. 11 committee meeting, councillors proposed increasing rent for the Open Doors Society to $750 per month. Under that plan, Open Sky would see a similar rent increase.

On Feb. 8, councillors heard that rent increase would not only impact the societies' ability to provide programming, but would ultimately result in the Open Sky Society needing to find a new location.

On behalf of Open Sky, executive director Roxanna Thompson told the committee that the organization is run mostly by volunteers and only has one part-time staff member for most of the year to oversee programming.

In the last fiscal year, it cost the society approximately $125,000 for its programming and events as well as overhead costs. Project-specific funding takes upwards of 85 per cent of the society's operating budget, Thompson said.

"This funding is pieced together annually through proposal writing, from multiple funding sources, which is to say none of our funding is multi-year or renewable ... Open Sky does not have core funding to support our overhead costs - for example, rent, administration or payroll," she said.

"As such, we do not have a secure funding source to accommodate an increase in our rent."

Likewise, councillors heard the Open Doors Society's budget could not afford a rent increase.

Society volunteer Val Gendron said if rent were increased, Open Doors' board would need to meet to decide what programming to cut but cuts would likely start with the society's popular Active After School program.

Programming costs Open Doors about $98,500 per year.

During discussion, councillors said the recreation centre already had high maintenance costs, including $100,000 per year for heat and $300,000 yearly for power.

Coun. Charles Blyth said those large numbers would barely be offset by rent payments from local organizations.

"We shouldn't be trying to run the dollar shortfalls of the town on the backs of our volunteers," he said. "We'll never get enough from them (to cover the recreation centre's costs), and it's big bucks for them, although it seems like small bucks for us."

The lease agreements will come before regular council at a later date, as committee meetings can only make recommendations to council instead of decisions.

Curling club lease still up in air

A proposed five-year lease agreement between the village and the Fort Simpson Curling Club saw a suggested rent increase to $1,000 from $1 for the club, which uses both the village's curling rink and curling lounge.

Curling club representatives Neil Mitchell, Vanessa Murtsell and Forrest McQuade met with the committee on Feb. 8

Deputy mayor Jarret Hardisty and Coun. Marie Lafferty said they felt a rent increase was necessary, especially given the presence of alcohol in the lounge.

That could be a safety issue, they said, given the fact other village buildings containing alcohol have been broken into in the past. However, curling representatives said their lounge has not been broken into for at least five years.

Councillors also discussed the possibility of cleaning the ice for the curling club, instead of having club members do it themselves. Mitchell and McQuade opposed this idea.

McQuade told councillors the club would not sign the lease if someone else were to take care of the ice.

Changes to the curling club's lease will be brought before the club's executive, McQuade said, before a decision can be made.