Okotoks - Clubs bracing for
fee increase
Jump in fees means hockey players will pay up to $50 more
By Laurel Nadon
Staff Reporter
Minor hockey players can expect to pay $25 to $50 more in fees for 2006
after Okotoks town council approved 15 per cent recreation fee increases
at its meeting on Dec. 12.
Effective Jan. 1, 2006, there will be a six per cent increase in rates
at the Okotoks Recreation Centre and Centennial Arena (to open in May
2006) with a nine per cent increase on Sept. 1, 2006.
Bruce Goodwin, president of the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association, said
they’re in good shape because they typically budget for five per
cent annual increases. Because of this, the association has already covered
the first increase. The nine per cent increase will be budgeted for in
the 2006-2007 season.
“It’s not going to hurt us so much this year, but it could
hurt us quite a bit if there’s another increase on Jan. 1, 2007,”
Goodwin said.
He added they weren’t expecting a 15 per cent increase, but it helps
that increases will be implemented in stages.
The association budgets $175,000 annually for ice costs and these increases
mean they need to come up with $25,000 to $30,000 more each year. The
association has been building a reserve fund and also holds various fundraisers
to help offset the increased rec fees.
“Our fees will increase a normal increase as opposed to an enormous
increase,” Goodwin said.
He said he would be surprised if fewer players signed up because of the
fee increase.
While Goodwin is not too concerned, members of the Okotoks Stingrays Winter
Club fear that a 15 per cent increase in recreation fees could mean fewer
swimmers in 2006.
The club currently has 73 swimmers and had anticipated 100 swimmers for
the 2006 to 2007 season, but president Iris Jackson said she’s no
longer sure they’ll reach that due to the fee increases. She feels
that this increase may mean families can’t afford to sign their
children up for swim club.
“They (the town) had to have known that increases were going to
happen. Instead of waiting three years and then hitting us with a 15 per
cent increase, they should have done it gradually,” Jackson said.
“When we do our budget, we have to look at what a family can pay
for the quality program we provide.”
Swimmers typically pay $80 to $140 per month to swim from September and
April. The provincial level swimmers pay $1,400 in fees to swim from September
to June.
Parent Francine Nori said she would have liked to have seen more gradual
rate increases.
“Some of us can’t always afford it,” Nori said. “If
we go too high, we’re going to be losing kids to Calgary.”
Nori has two sons in swim club and already pays $2,000 a year in fees.
However, hockey parent Brenda Shields said the increase isn’t welcome,
but it wasn’t unexpected and it will fund vital community amenities.
“If we’ve got an expansion going on, it’s got to be
paid for somehow,” Shields said. “If increases in fees are
going to get us better access to facilities in town, then it’s worth
it.”
All three of her children use the recreation centre. The increases in
fees, however, won’t mean these three young athletes won’t
be playing their favourite sports.
“It’s too important to keep your kids active,” Shields
said. “I’d rather have my kids participate in something than
have them hang around convenience stores after school and have too much
time on their hands.”
The last hourly rate change for the arena and aquatics was in 2004, with
no change in 2005. For playing fields, the last user rate change was in
2003, with rates staying the same for 2004 and 2005. In 2005, recreation
users paid for 59 per cent while tax support was at 41 per cent.
Cutline: Bruce Goodwin, president of the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association,
says minor hockey players can expect to pay $25 to $50 more in fees in
2006 after Okotoks town council approved 15 per cent recreation fee increases.
photo by Laurel Nadon
Cutline: Parent Francine Nori watches the Okotoks Stingrays Winter Club
practice on Friday, Dec. 16. Rec users are bracing for a 15 per cent increase
in fees over the next year. photo by Laurel Nadon
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A High River fireman shows the results
of fighting fires in the dead of winter while battling a blaze at
a High River strip mall on Saturday morning. photo by Karmen Allenby
Arson suspected in High River fires
By Pamela Roth
Staff Reporter
Investigators believe arson was the cause of a fire
that gutted the Salvation Army thrift store in High River earlier
this month.
“We haven’t determined anything to say that it’s
accidental, so we are looking at it as an arson right now,”
said High River RCMP Cpl. Patrick Webb. “We’ve had some
previous dumpster fires before. We have spoken to many people and
we have more people we are speaking to.”
The fire, which is believed to have started in a garbage dumpster
adjacent to a rear corner of the building, began around 2:30 a.m.
Dec. 6 and destroyed the contents of the thrift store.
The building also contained two other commercial outlets and an office
area.
Although firewalls managed to contain the blaze to the thrift store,
causing the adjoining businesses to escape with only water and smoke
damage, a second fire, which tore though the same building shortly
before 8 a.m. on Saturday claimed both businesses - the 11 Liquor
Store and Alberta Mental Health office.
At this time, High River RCMP and the fire department are still investigating
the cause of the blaze, and are treating it as suspicious.
The Salvation Army thrift store generates roughly $20,000 a month
for the charity, but won’t suffer as big an impact as originally
thought.
The organization has already set up shop in a donated space in High
River, complete with a donation centre, and is expecting to open a
temporary thrift store within the next week.
“It’s a big loss, but we have been so fortunate with the
new space that we actually won’t lose much,” said Salvation
Army captain Shannon Howard. “It’s just amazing. We have
been able to get our stock back up already from donations in the community.”
Although the space that housed the food bank and family services was
lost in the fire, thankfully, Christmas hampers and supplies were
moved to another location one week before the destructive inferno.
Fire investigators have also determined that a fire that destroyed
the historic Gateway Hotel last month was not deliberately set, and
started in the area of the music booth near the dance floor within
the bar area.
Anyone with more information about either incident is asked to contact
the High River RCMP detachment at 652-2357 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Move to new high school delayed
By Darlene Casten
Staff Reporter
Construction delays at a new high school will force
Okotoks’ Catholic schools to continue in their overcrowded state
a little longer than expected.
High school students will not be moving into the future Holy Trinity
School until March 15, three weeks later than scheduled.
“I was disappointed for our students, teachers and of course
our parents,” said Christ the Redeemer School Division superintendent
Michael O’Brien, calling the delay the cost of doing business
with the construction industry during one of their busiest years.
It was a lack of drywallers that put the final nail in the coffin
for a second semester start.
Originally, the division hoped to have the school opened in September,
but when the project couldn’t get off the ground due to a lack
of funding the date was pushed back to February.
When construction began a year ago a wet summer and labour shortages
spelled more delays, finally forcing the CRSD to announce another
delay.
“We are building during a very difficult time,” O’Brien
said. “I know people are disappointed, but we need to be realistic.”
Half of the 12 portables now housed at John Paul II Collegiate Junior
High (the current Holy Trinity Academy) will be moved prior to students
moving in, but the other six classrooms will have to be moved over
the following week.
“It will be a little squished for a week, but it will be better
than what we have now,” O’Brien said.
Currently, the division’s students are being divided between
three schools, where portables and former administration space is
being used as classrooms.
O’Brien said the older students will be moving into the new
high school during this school year.
“I am hopeful and confident it won’t be delayed any further,”
he said. “If it is necessary we would just move the date to
Easter for example.”
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In this issue...
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Nice Start -
New Oilers netminder opens with a shutout
• See Sports
Home for the holidays -
George Canyon returns to Okotoks for concert
• See Entertainment
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