SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City council has again asked for more information from administration before making a final decision about whether to forgive the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club of a $101,008.51 debt owing to the city.

Yellowknife Gymnastics Club vice-president Mike Lalonde is seen at the club's facilities at the Multiplex on Wednesday. Lalonde was at city hall Monday to hear the Municipal Services Committee's discussion about whether to forgive the club of an outstanding $101,008.51 debt it owes to the city for construction and leasing costs. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo

At Monday's Municipal Services Committee, councillors told administration they needed to know the exact overrun cost from the club's construction agreement that began in 2002, as well as a better comparison of subsidies provided to different clubs in the city.

"Further attempts have to be made to advise council on the fairness of the request," deputy mayor Adrian Bell said during the meeting at city hall. "Number one is comparing different groups. Number two is more information about construction costs."

The Yellowknife Gymnastics Club entered into an agreement with the city in 2002 to build the club's facilities in the Multiplex at an estimated cost of $679,000 plus GST. The city contributed a $140,000 grant toward a "shell" facility, while the club was responsible for the remainder and the cost of any construction inside the shell facility. Gymnastics club president Debra McGee told council on Oct. 17 that construction rang in at $260,000 above the estimated price tag.

The club wants its debts forgiven in order to remain competitive with other clubs in the city and improve its facilities. A memorandum provided to council by administration did not provide an exact overrun cost for construction of the gymnastics facility. It did show the club owes the city $52,452.51 in construction costs, $9,356 in storage and bleacher costs, and $39,200 in leasing costs since 2013.

Coun. Linda Bussey asked why the gymnastics club did not choose to raise fees to help cover costs since its membership has increased over the years. The club currently stands at more than 500 members.

"Our costs are rising," the club's vice-president Mike Lalonde told council on Monday. "I don't know that

everybody's acutely aware

of how expensive it is to

have trained coaches."

While at some point it is important to consider raising membership fees, the gymnastics club's fees are "substantially higher" than other clubs in comparison to the hours of training they get for their money, he said.

Coun. Shauna Morgan, Niels Konge and Julian Morse agreed council should hold off on making a decision until administration could provide council with the exact overrun cost of the construction of the gymnastics facility.

"I think that, because the city was in control of those costs, that would be one area I would be willing to perhaps look at assistance," Konge said.

He did not however support forgiveness of bleacher and storage costs, as he said he considers those outside the original construction costs for the facility. The lease payments also should not be forgiven, as those negotiations happened a long time ago, Konge said.

Morse said he wants to see the original construction agreement between the city and the gymnastics club, adding council hoped to gain an understanding of whether providing forgiveness to the gymnastics club would be fair in the context of what subsidies have been provided to other clubs over the years.

Administration provided a table in its memorandum to council outlining those subsidies but councillors had further questions after reading it.

Bell said the issue is complex and is like comparing "apples to oranges to bananas."

"It's a bit difficult to decipher that because there's so many different kinds of sports, there's different things that we do," Morse said. "The hockey club didn't have to go build an arena and then pay the city back for it," he said as an example.

"There's all these different ways in which the city is providing funding to these sports organizations. I just want to ensure that what we're doing is fair," Morse said.

In an interview following the MSC meeting, Lalonde told Yellowknifer he understands the need for all the data to be out there and that it is part of the process of coming to a decision.

"I think for us, we just need to get a resolution on it, one way or another," he said.

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