Hub Staff

Saugeen Shores ice rental fees were a hot topic during the Committee of a Whole meeting January 11 in council chambers.

The current cost to rent ice in Saugeen Shores is $144.58 per hour, before town subsidies, and parents and minor hockey representatives in attendance were eager to have that number “frozen” or lessened to a better value and issued a soft threat of bringing minor hockey and skating to other areas that have cheaper rates.

At the podium in figure skates, Janet Dawson, a coach for the Saugeen Shores Skating Club addressed council during the open forum with concerns of keeping the Canskate program running in Saugeen Shores.

“We need to keep it competitive with some of the areas around us. And ensuring that it’s available to our local people, so they don’t have to go to Tara or Walkerton, which have reduced fees,” said Dawson.

Rob Blue of the Saugeen Shores Minor Hockey executive presented the current issues pertaining to ice costs during the Committee of a Whole, providing information about cheaper ice rental costs around the area and asked council why the Municipality of Arran - Elderslie is able to offer ice at a rate 30 percent less than Saugeen Shores.

“Our rep teams book ice outside of the community when they require extra practices because they can rent ice at a lower cost outside of the town,” Blue said during his presentation.

Councillor Don Matheson supported the plight of Minor Hockey.

"I don’t like seeing residents of Saugeen Shores leaving town to rent cheap ice from other communities,” he said.

Vice - Deputy Mayor, Diane Huber addressed the fact that ice time for hockey and other recreational sports are subsidized by the Town of Saugeen Shores, between $45,000 and $50,000 for hockey per year alone, making the average ice time rental rate around $112 per hour, not $144.58.

“It’s a multi layered discussion,” said Huber. “I think the (upcoming) Recreation Master Plan is going to give us a lot of background information and also give us the chance to think about the number of elements that play into the cost of running a facility,” Huber said.

She added, “I think it's important we look at the dollar figures and keep in mind that we do provide some support. The numbers that are on the chart isn’t always the number that’s in play.”

With a child currently involved with Saugeen Shore Minor Hockey, Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau said that minor hockey has a partner in Saugeen Shores and the subsides are demonstration enough.

“We're going to treat you fairly, we want young kids to play these sports, that's why we built these facilities,” said Charbonneau, who has hopes that things will work out once the Recreational Master Plan is developed.