Council discusses ice, hall rental, boat launch fees
by Michelle Minnoch

There were many discussions at council Wednesday, January 24th regarding what fees should go up for residents and non residents, and what should be lowered.

Ice rental

With the new arenas coming to Innisfil, via the Rec Centre, the town is looking at charging more for ice time at the new facility.

The fee for renting out ice time in the new arenas will have a $5 an hour increase over that of Lefroy and Stroud Arenas.

Councilor Lynn Dollin said over the short term, people will want to use the Rec Centre because it "will be new and shiny".

Proposing an additional $5 an hour fee for Rec Centre ice time, Deputy Mayor Wauchope said he had mentioned it to Innisfil Minor Hockey. "They said with that they would stick with Lefroy and Stroud."

Effective August 1, 2007, the ice rental rates per hour are as follows; prime time minor - $133 (from $126.41); prime time casual - $148 (from $140.57); non prime time - $112 (from $106.60); early morning - $107 (from $101.89); holidays - $148 (from $140.57). The prices are excluding GST and are for residents of Innisfil.

Boat launch

Deputy Mayor Wauchope said the boat launch at Innisfil Beach Park, should be waived for residents of the community.

"There is presently no charge for residents Monday to Friday," he said. "But a lot of the residents go boating on Saturday and Sunday, and have to pay $10. We owe it to our residents to take that charge out."

Mayor Brian Jackson said in lieu of dropping the fee for residents, the fee for those who come in from out of town should be higher, suggesting $20.

"They pay $20 to get in, I think $15 to launch is fair," said Deputy Mayor Wauchope. "The park is for our people."

Councilor Boynton asked how many residents versus non residents use the boat launch. George Shaparew, Director of Community Services said he would look into it.

Council agreed to eliminate the charge for residents, and increase the out of town rate to $15 for launching boats at Innisfil Beach Park.

Hall rental

Council will have to determine the difference between profit and not for profit groups before deciding on changing the fee's for rental halls within the community.

"I understand where the Town is coming from," said Deputy Mayor Wauchope, of the report. "Some of these groups that rent the halls do a lot of good for the town, and a lot of them are going out there trying to raise money."

Councilor Dollin suggested decreasing the minimum number of hours required for hall rentals. "If we lower the minimum number of hour's rate, we would increase our revenue in the end," she said.

Councilor Boynton suggested leaving the rate the same, but charging a flat fee for a non form profit, or community group.

CAO Larry Allison suggested council determine the difference between the groups before a decision could be made.