Vasey says he’ll ask council to consider ending the $10k grant

Heather Wright/The Independent

Plympton-Wyoming won’t be signing an agreement to help pay for the operations at Petrolia’s arena.

Town councillors decided against entering a formal agreement with Petrolia at a meeting Jan. 8.

Plympton-Wyoming has provided cash to help support the operation of the Greenwood Recreation Centre for years. The town provided figures showing more than 104 Plympton-Wyoming residents have used the arena from 2011 to 2019.

Recently, the town asked the agreement to be formalized. Town staff worked with Petrolia to come up with an agreement to provide $10,000 and would increase with inflation yearly.
That didn’t sit well with councillors.

Councillor Alex Boughen was surprised by the inflation rate increases baked into the contract. Boughen asked for a report to find out “where’s the money going and how many kids are enrolled, rather than just have a handshake deal… I certainly didn’t anticipate an escalation clause for annual payments to something that’s completely unrelated to enrolment numbers.”

He added with Petrolia considering a twin-pad area and suggesting other municipalities contribute, he doesn’t want to be tied up with a user pay agreement now.

Both Councillors John Van Klaveren and Mike Vasey questioned why Plympton-Wyoming was paying while other municipalities were not. “We seem very beholden to Petrolia and Forest and I know there are a number of families going to Watford,” Van Klaveren said.

Vasey said every municipality funds recreation which people from surrounding communities use.
“We have beaches, lake accesses boat ramps, volleyball courts, etc, which get used by all our surrounding neighbours. That costs us a fortune. We’re looking at $40,000 dredging costs for the boat ramp. Last year we made $10,000,” he said. “Apparently, we’re paying $10,000 for 100 kids to use the (Petrolia) arena. Last year, over 150 kids were registered with Wyoming minor ball. Yes, ball gets a break at the diamonds in Petrolia, but not to the tune of $10,000.”

While the Plympton-Wyoming councillors decided not to sign the agreement, CAO Adam Sobanski says council did pass a motion to continue providing the grant.

Vasey says that could change during the up coming budget talks. He says he’ll raise the issue again then.

Editor’s note: the print version of this story incorrectly stated Plympton-Wyoming would not be providing the arena grant to Petrolia. The motion passed by council was not to enter into an agreement with the town for the donation.