A Chatham councillor is hoping that the recent decision to repurpose a pair of arenas in the municipality can be reversed.
During the November 9 council meeting, recommendations from staff were approved to temporarily remove the ice from Erickson Arena in Chatham and Bothwell Arena and convert them each into a multipurpose facility to accommodate pickleball, indoor soccer, volleyball and ball hockey.
However, the plan to repurpose quickly drew concerns from local user groups who had already had paid for ice time at the two arenas for the upcoming season and would now be required to change locations.
After hearing the concerns, Councillor Michael Bondy told Blackburn News that he intends to bring the topic up for reconsideration during the November 23 meeting.
In the report that came to council on November 9, staff said that the main goal of the repurposing was to make the facilities more financially viable while also creating alternative recreational activities for a broader demographic, including snowbirds in Chatham-Kent who most likely won't be travelling down south this winter.
Currently, the municipality’s 10 arenas are operating at a deficit of $235,867 per month due to declining ice rental. Meanwhile, current ice rentals in Chatham-Kent have declined to a point where all ice requests can be accommodated in six arenas.
According to staff, repurposing Erikson and Bothwell arenas would provide an estimated operational savings of $164,000 due to decreased operational costs including energy savings and an anticipated increase in user revenue for the indoor activities.
Council voted in favour of the repurposing of Erickson Arena 82 per cent to 18 per cent and 53 per cent to 47 per cent for Bothwell Arena.
Bondy said he originally voted in favour of the repurposing, assuming it was a simple way for the municipality to save some money. But, he now says he believes that councillors weren't provided with enough information on the community impact and said in hindsight, he would have made a different decision.
"When I voted to repurpose the two arenas, we were given pretty light information," he said. "Just that it's a cost-saving mechanism. But, considering what we didn't know, I think the vote probably would have not have been successful."
Margie Van Oirschot, chairperson for Chatham Ringette, said that the association has been using Erickson Arena for over 30 years.
Van Oirschot said she only learned of the possible repurposing shortly before the council meeting took place on Monday and learned that it passed the next day while listening to the news.
Since then, she said she's just one of the user groups who have been left wondering how she will manage the program this season with the change.
"We're in the middle of COVID and it has been very difficult to even get these programs running," she explained. "We have really strict protocols for check-ins for the kids. We're finally rolling and now they're saying 'oh, you're halfway through [the season] but you're going to potentially move to Thames Campus if it opens.'"
Following the decision, Manager of Parks and Open Spaces Jeff Bray said that the municipality would be working closely with the user groups over the coming weeks about schedule changes and providing them with all the possible options to ensure a smooth transition. Bray also stressed that the conversion of the arenas would only be a temporary trial run from December 2020 to March 2021.
However, Van Oirschot said she was disappointed that the municipality didn't include arena users in the process from the beginning.
"There's a bunch of things I'd like to address to the council to have them maybe get all information before this continues and moves forward," said Van Oirschot. "I'd really like to have it addressed again so Chatham Minor Hockey, Chatham Ringette, Bothwell Figure Skating, girls hockey, we'll all have a chance to be a part of this conversation."
During council's original discussion about the repurposing, West Kent Councillor Mark Authier put forward a motion to refer the report back to staff to allow time for public consultation. However, Authier’s motion was voted down 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
After learning of the decision to repurpose the arenas, Van Oirschot contacted Bondy to see what her options were and if there was any way she could explain the impact that the repurposing would have on those who use the arenas regularly.
"All of a sudden you hear from all these user groups who say 'wait, hold on, this is a terrible idea.' First of all, with COVID, it takes away a lot of the programming and it throws ringette up in the air, throws minor hockey up in the air," said Bondy. "They weren't presented with an alternative plan, they were just told 'this is what's happening and we'll work it out.' Well, it's November, it's a little late to start working it out, from what I understand."
If Bondy gets agreeance from other councillors, he will bring up a motion during Monday's meeting to reconsider the repurposing. Generally, any notices of motion have to be presented ahead of time at a previous council meeting. However, public notice of motion time can be waived with a two-thirds vote. If the waiving of motion time passes, the arena reconsideration will then go up for discussion and voting.
According to Bondy, council has overturned decisions before, but generally long after they've already been implemented and they seem not to be working.
"We very rarely overturn decisions anyways and this kind of turnaround, never, not in my 11 years anyways. But, I think that we made an uninformed decision," said Bondy. "Now that we have a lot more information and we've heard from stakeholders and the user groups, let's just flip the switch backwards before we even move on this thing."