September 28, 2011
Town seeks joint
talks on recreation
by Vance Gutzman
Deep River council members want to sit down with their Laurentian Hills
counterparts to discuss how the two municipalities can address the
subject of recreation costs.
The issue came up for discussion at Deep River council last week, when
Councillor Daniel Banks said the issue needs to be formally addressed
and communicated to residents of both municipalities.
Recreation costs have been in the news for the past few months. There's
a belief among Deep River council members that a financial inequity
exists between the two municipalities on account of Laurentian Hills
contributes just over $5,600 a year towards Deep River's operating
costs for recreation, which totalled $475,883 last year.
"It may not be clear to our residents, or the residents of Laurentian
Hills, the degree to which we're subsidizing them," Banks said.
"There may be some need for communication."
Laurentian Hills' community and social services committee is currently
studying the issue of shared recreation costs between the two
municipalities, and is expected to bring a proposal back to its council
before the end of this year.
Banks said it would be great if Laurentian Hills were amenable to
increasing its contributions to Deep River.
"But we need to think of the things we may need to do to encourage them
to do that," he said.
"There are carrots and there are sticks."
Deep River could dangle a carrot in front of Laurentian Hills, Banks
went on to suggest, in the form of the joint operation of some
recreational facilities.
"I'd be in favour of doing that if it resulted in a more cost-effective
sharing arrangement," Banks said.
Or Deep River could use a stick, he went on, by letting the people of
Laurentian Hills know how much they would be paying if Deep River were
to charge them full recreational costs.
"We might have to look at a system where we're subsidizing our own
residents, and leave it up to Laurentian Hills if they want to do the
same for their own residents," Banks said.
Councillor Terry Myers agreed that the situation which Deep River sees
as an inequity needs to be addressed.
The current cost-sharing agreement between the two municipalities,
Myers argued, means that, outside of fees, Deep River residents are
paying $100 apiece each year to pay for operating costs of the town's
recreational facilities.
"Laurentian Hills residents are getting equal access to our facilities
for less than two dollars," Myers contended.
"That's a huge inequity and we have to put it in plain terms. It's more
than reasonable to go back to their council and say we've got to
address this."
But rather than speaking council to council, Deputy Mayor Mary
MacCafferty suggested the best way for the two municipalities to
address the issue would be to form a joint committee which could sit
down and go over the details with a fine-tooth comb.
"Bring Laurentian Hills on board so we can find a compromise," she said.
"By working together from the get-go, I think we have a better chance
of reaching a compromise.”
Mayor David Thompson, in turn, suggested that he liked the cut of the
deputy-mayor's jib in regard to her proposal.
"I think the deputy mayor's suggestion is very well-reasoned," Thompson
said.
"I have no issue with inviting our neighbours to join us."
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