Vegreville Town Council Cancels Rent Payment
Michelle Pinon
News Advertiser
Members of Vegreville town council agreed to cancel the March rental fee for the Heather Curling Club during its regular April 27 meeting.
Phil Rowe, Community Services Director, said the curling club pays $9,000 rent per month to the town. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Town of Vegreville was forced to close all public recreation facilities on March 16, 2020. The Social Center was also closed to events preventing the Heather Curling Club from holding their major fundraiser in March 2020. This fundraiser is used to off-set their rental payments for the club.”
Coun. Warawa said it was one of those things that was taken out of their hands, and they had no control over that. She added that the club cannot access other funds, so council should consider that in its decision.”
Coun. Taneen Rudyk agreed the rent should cancelled in light of the “extraordinary circumstance” created by the COVID-19 pandemic. She also requested administration to tally all costs, direct and indirect, the town has had to incur because of COVID-19. Rudyk said the Federation of Municipalities (FCM) continues to gather data, and said that would be beneficial when it came time for that organization to advocate for its members.
“So when it’s all over and done we can see what it costs the municipality and the community,” said Mayor Tim MacPhee.
The motion was passed unanimously.