Township council freezes public skating fees

KENILWORTH – Wellington North council has turned down a 25 per cent price increase to public skating fees.

Township staff recommended an increase next year to $5 from the current $4 individual admission price, and to $15 from $12 for families.

Recreation manager Karen Rennie said at an Oct. 5 council meeting the increase would align Wellington North with other municipalities.

“We do feel we offset it with the number of free skates that we have available to people,” Rennie said.

But council instead voted in favour of an amendment from councillor Sherry Burke to freeze current skating rates.

“As families struggle, if you have two or three kids, or you want to go a few times a month, or throughout the year, that can be costly for some families,” Burke said.

“I think we’re getting around the issue which you so rightly raised through the sponsorship program that we have,” Mayor Andy Lennox said to Burke.

Sponsorship opportunities for free skates are already filled for the season, Rennie noted.

Lennox said there’s a “risk” of “stagnating” if not keeping up with neighbouring municipalities.

Across other areas of programming, Rennie told council the average increase is 3%.

However there are several increases well above that, such as fitness programs, facility rentals, seniors’ programming, and swim programming.

Rennie stated in a report the township considers fees charged by neighbouring municipalities and the cost of operating facilities and programs “to ensure financial accountability.” 

A bylaw to set the fees will return to council on Nov. 30.