“We could consider raising it closer to the average to $131 per hour,” said St. Dennis. Councillor Ken Graham said he had no problems with hoisting the fees.“We should be charging whatever it costs for the arena,” he said. “We shouldn’t be subsidizing the arena…people who use it should pay to run it.”
Hallelujah.
Now, I'm assuming that's the cost to operate and maintain it ... what about the initial building cost ? Sadly, taxpayers on the hook for that one. Ol'Dolts neighbour and right hand man Jim Watson came home today, spendin' our cash like a drunken sailer on shore leave ... $20 million for a desperately needed (sic) spankin' new archive building for Ottawa and this ....
At Friday's announcement, Mr. Watson said Smiths Falls had also been awarded money under the same program that awarded money to the archives. The province will put $6.2 million toward renovating that city's arena, he said.
Just what we needed, a renovated rink. Forget that this much could buy the Hershey factory for some entrepreneurial soul , or get a commuter rail system off the ground, or or or or ... you get the drift. $6.2 million ... that works out to better than $400 bones for every man, woman and child who live within a reasonable radius, whether you use it or not.
Now, we don't use the rink -- so instead how's about Watson buys me a fishin' boat with my families share ... I promise I'll pay for the fuel and maintain it !!
No, eh ?
It's the same damn thing. Buy your own rink, and gimme my money back.
11 comments:
Ok. Here's the thing:It bugs me beyond belief when people in a community have the attitude of " I don't use it, I shouldn't pay." Hmmmmmmm,,,,,If you're in the Christian Scientist religion, should you be exempt from paying anything towards health care because you won't use traditional medical care? Should you not have to pay school taxes if you don't have any children in school? Should all the seniors singlehandedly pay for the new seniors building beside the rink? Should I NOT pay taxes towards job creation or the unemployment building beause I am not, nor ever have been, unemployed? Should I not pay towards courts and the judicial system because I've never been charged or convicted of a crime? Should I not have to have any of my tax dollars go to legal aid to support the rights of those who cannot pay, to have legal council? Should only the ones who attend functions at Rosedale hall have to pay for the upgrades it requires, or as a society should we value and take care of our community together? We live in a society where we support each other...way, way too much at times, but nevertheless it's the way our world goes around. Heaven help us if we actually lived in a society that ran under the philosophy of " I don't use it, so I don't pay. What about Road maintenance??? How about I don't have a car so I don't pay for that either????? For all those who think along those lines in our commmuntiy, and sadly there are many in all communities, I say to you: imagine the world we would have if things actually ran that way. Very short sighted of anyone to think that way, I think.
How about the one who might say, "I can't read. Can you tell me where I can go to say that I don't want any of MY share of tax money to go to support a public library?"
And WHAT IF we had no public arena, or seniors centers, or public mental health services, or any other recreation partially funded by the tax payers in our fine community. If all of these facilities were only funded by the people that use them, most if not all of them would be extinct. Imagine the community them. How many people do you suppose would think, oh ya. Let's move to good old Smiths Falls.
If we ignore our facilites and not provide for activities and recreation in our communities, and fund a commuter rail system, and create wonderful jobs in our community, it would be very convenient for people from other communities to use that transportation to ride in here, do their job, and ride back out to the community where they have chosen to live who have valued the communtiy as a whole and used tax dollars in a respopnsible and balanced way, so as to ensure that there IS both a means of making a living and a communtiy in which they can be happy and proud to live. Balance. It's all about Balance. Balance and Accountability. Imagine the "what ifs" if we had both.
Wow ... you've made a number of points here ... I'll try and get to them all. I know i'm in the minority with regards to funding arenas ... and the reason I don't support them is they are so darned expensive - to build and maintain.
First off - education, health care and the judicial system have benefits to the community as a whole -- without any of these, society as we know it would cease to exist. Not so for recreation and let me add funding for arts to that as well. They are luxuries, not necessity.
Let me ask you this : Should taxpayers buy Little Rock or Millar Brooke Farms an indoor riding arena ? Or, how 'bout renovations to the bowling alley ? Why not ?
So let me get this straight -- If you choose hockey or figure skating the cost of facilities are borne by taxpayers. If you choose equestrian, bowling, dance lessons, or ... You not only have to pay the full brunt of the cost and profit, but also your share of these businesses taxes ? How in the world is that right ?
The point is hockey or figure skating are just forms of recreation ... no different from the examples I gave above. I'm not really sure why they get a free ride.
Your point about Rosedale Hall and the seniors centers bring me to another question ... why in the world do we have two buildings, across the road from each other, both used about 10 % of the time ? Doesn't make much sense to me.
As far as funding the repairs to Rosedale, I guess I'm probably in the minority with that too .. I don't think it's a wise use of money. We still have the Civitan Club in the Township and the school gym. Do we really need the Hall ?
If you check out the minor hockey website, you will find that registering your child for hockey is far from a free ride. The average family will be stroking a very large check to enable their child to play hockey. A community with no recreation will have big, big, big problems. I believe that recreation IS a necessity. As far as the bowling alley etc., of course the public should not put tax dollars into it, since it is a private business, but if they want to have a bowling alley in their community they will need to support that business. Although I am not a bowling enthusiast, I believe it's important to have that form of recreation in our community, and would count it as a loss if that businees were to fail. The arena being publicly owned is an interesting topic, seeing that a private citizen did wish to build an arena, on a private site, (the old south unit, I believe) and it was not approved by the town. It matters not to me whether we have publicly owned, or privately owned faciliites, but I firmly believe if a community is to be successful, the recreation must exist. LOTS of money is paid into that arena. NO ONE who is using it is getting a free ride. That's for sure, and I would put money on it that if a private citizen was to build an arena in our community, it would flourish and be a profitable business. The problem is accountability for money going to support such recreation endevours. IF it was a private business it would be run very differently, I'm sure.
As for benefitting the community as a whole: anyone who doesn't think recreation availability in a community benefits all citizen within it should ask themselves the question, would court costs and health care costs be even higher than they already are, If we didn't have people busy with recreation? I say yes, yes, yes!
(The library, which I would guess **wink** you would think is important does not benefit the community as a whole, as many are sadly illiterate. Should be have tax dollars go towards that? I think so...)
Rosedale Hall and the Seniors Forget me Not Club. Hmmmmmmm,,,,,it is kind difficult to justify both, but I wonder, if when that Forget Me Not club was built, if there was more community events to justify more space. I don't know, but I bet there was. I am a sucker for history, and would be sad to see the Rosedale hall go. I think marketing it better, and making it come alive with more activities is the answer. Both of those facilities should be able to exist with a purpose in a growing community like ours. Wouldn't it be nice if we came out of our houses more and came together as a community the way communities used to be. Dreamer? Maybe, But it would be nice. :-)
Where would that argument stop, I wonder?? No museums? Not everyone goes, or cares. No Conservation areas, or parks. Oh my. Heaven forbid that world that would exist under the notion that if it isn't perceived by the powers that be, that something benefits the community as a whole, we don't all pay. Some people, I would argue, don't have a clue what's good for them, or us all as a community, and would sacrifice much of what we enjoy without giving it a second though, if we lived under those rules. How about Rideau Regional?? I would argue to the end of time that IF that facility was USED by the community in a logical way, it would never, never has even been considered to close. I say, revitalize the way we look at our community, be creative in being cost effective, and we can, between private business and publicly funded endevours, have a community we can all be proud and happy to live in. BUT make recreation something that is not a priority? I sure hope Not.
I know it's expensive to put your child in hockey and figure skating ... exactly the reason my children aren't.
I guess what I'm really trying to understand ... and no one has been able to justify to me is why an arena (or actually, a second arena) is so darned important.
I used the examples of a bowling alley and equestrian facilities ... I'll add a ski hill to that list. You replied back that they are not entitled to public funds as they are businesses. EXACTLY MY POINT. If these types of recreation can manage to exist, employ people, pay taxes instead of receiving them ... why can't arenas ? I would think, given the popularity of minor hockey, etc. it would be easier for arenas to make money than for most other types of recreation/entertainment businesses.
I did hear about the PPP arena you speak of ... and I think it was short-sighted of the Town to discount it.
Oh ... and the library. Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't spend anywhere near enough time there as a kid !
Very, very short sighted of the town, for sure!! I think when a private citizen who had the had the way, means, money,and desire to build an arena in our town, it should have been give much thought.
As for expensive for hockey and figure skating: I think, if your children wanted to play, and couldn't because of the expense, then shame on our community for not making it accessible to all. It really bugs me too, that the rinks are viewed as being there for the sole purpose of minor hockey and figure skating. Why aren't people expecting to have scheduled regular available times for the good old family activity of just plain skating together. Talk to the old timers around here, and they would tell you that skating on Friday nights back in the day was a big deal for families. Just take a look at how many people come out for the advertised Tim Hortons skate when they sponsor it, and it would tell you that people do want it. Just not enough to ask for it, and kick a fuss when it doesn't happen. If the icetime in our rinks was used all the time, including early mornings, and late nights, much more revenue would be brought into the rinks to support the upkeep. The problem is not that minor hockey and figure skating clubs aren't paying their own way, in fact they don't get a cut in ice prices even though they're the major users. The problem lies in the marketing of our ice time. Something that costs so much to maintain, should be booked to capacity. After that, if tax dollars had to go to subsidize rinks, then good investment, I say. Our ice sits empty far too much. In other communites available ice is advertised, and snatched up quickly. There is a huge demand for icetime and people would even come from other communites if we had extra to rent out. (which, at times, we do) We have enough studies to show that access to sports for children is crucial. Come on Mike, ***wink*** You wouldn't really want to see towns without arenas and pools, and libraries, museums and conservation areas and festivals. what kind of a community would that be??
And, like it or not Mike, people do view recreation as a necessity, and if our town was the first to decide it was not necessary, it could very well be the final straw and the beginning of the end of our community as we know it. If you ever had the opportunity to tour our old high school in the last years while all the lobbying was happening for a new school, you would know that for some reason this community has let things go too far already. We kind of redeemed ourselves with our nice new school. Surely we want to maintain what we have so that we don't end up with a wreck like we did with that school.
Does all my rambling mean that I agree that the priorities are in place when it comes to this recent announcement? Ah,,,,,no, not necessarily. But I sure hope for balance. Likely to happen? Ah...no.
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