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2 stouffville suntribune thursday publication mail agreement 40007673 council freezes ice rates for youth groups lack of trust between town arena users by hannelore volpe staff writer keeping more than 1000 local skaters and hockey players in sports they love was behind impassioned pleas made to whitchurch- stouffville council tuesday ice rental rates at the arena should be frozen or reduced joe cornacchia president of thewhitchurch- stouffville minor hockey association and lesley english treasurer of the whitchurchstouffville figure skating club empha sized they got their wish sort of council decided to not increase ice rates until user fee policies have been estab lished for the major sports groups in the municipality user fees for the facilities are to be set with participation by representatives of ice user and other groups a date has not yet been set we always try to work together with the user groups said tom graham director of leisure services ice rental rates were to increase by close to 6 per cent for 2004 bringing hourly rates to 150 the hockey association had been lobbying for lower rates for the past three years a debenture to pay off the second ice pad built at the stouffville arena about eight years ago was forgiven by the town which means user groups shouldnt have to pay back 80000 each year to defray the cost mr cornacchia maintains he referred to an agree ment made at the time between user groups and the town it was nowhere to be found councillor ken ferdinands said these doc uments simply dont exist mr cornacchia was under the impression the arena showed a profit each year not so said treasurer- administrator nick kristoffy we lose a lot of money the treasurer said it is heav ily subsidized as are 99 per cent of municipal arenas across the province many other arenas are charging hourly ice rental fees ofaround 200 per hour he said with rising hydro rates cost pressures on the arena are increasing hydro rates jumped from 90000 to 138000 over the past year capital reserves for the arena have to be increased drastically mr graham to maintain the building effec tively and replace equipment and machinery when required for 2004 40000 has been placed in the capital reserve for the arena thats up from 20000 in previous years our national game is becoming costprohibitive but mr graham empha sized to maintain what we own a minimum of 100000 in capital reserves should be put aside for the arena every year mr cornacchia wants to see a user rate policy in place that is fair to all user groups he said in an interview after the meeting hes worried that if ice fees increase regis tration fees will have to go up accordingly although the wsmha has managed its financial affairs so well it is offering a 30 registration fee rebate to all players in the 200304 season and a 25 reduction in fees for 200405 mr cornacchia fears increas ing ice rates will deliver a blow to hockey that will be felt for years to come user groups for all the facilities have to be treated the same mr cornacchia said our national game is becoming costprohibitive the wsmha has around 800 players the markhamstouffville girls hockey association has approximately 425 players and adult hockey players number over 300 lesley english whose family skates and plays hock ey spends about 4000 each year on icerelated sports i dont want any of these sports to get driven out of existence ann scott presi dent of the whitchurch- stouffville figure skating club said in an interview to hold registration fees steady for its more than 300 members the skating club reduced its season by three weeks last year and by anoth er two weeks this year the originally proposed rate increase plus no rebate of 15 per hour of ice time adds up to more than 7000 in extra yearly expenses for the skating club ms english a chartered accountant said mr ferdinands said a lack of trust has developed between the parties and it has to be rectified mayor sue sherban said this issue is something that she wants to resolve once and for all for the town and associations ww community care 3r access centre of york region this message brought to you as a community service of the economist sunsuntribune were here for you for health care and social service information call the ccac of york region at 18884702222 value and timeless quality fassssfissi discover the pleasure of plants iami ib35iste2ssb ii i ra ibeebbfeanfcrl mr 9 v- r 1 3s ii 5sj wssssimk 1 hi jfs5 gi wsf 1 ml no one beats 0r prices on solid oak kitchen sets shop where the professionals shop we carry a large selection of caliber trees fancy topiaries come to treevalley and walk through our greenhouses and nurseries for the largest selection of perennials annuals unusual flowering hanging baskets and patio pots itw wfe are your onestopshop why speiid allweekehd shoppm come home to the amish furniture outlet choose your style colour and size and enjoy the rest of your weekend seniors 55 save an additional 5 until june 3004 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