SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
The city has been reviewing and rescinding outdated policies and last week proposed changes to three recreation programs in an effort to save money.
The city has proposed to change their requirements to recognize provincial and national champions that have included ensuring it’s made public and giving each member a certification.
The city will instead have the option to choose another way to recognize a champion.
The city has also proposed removal of the Youth Activation Pass Program and Grad.
The program was started in 2015 to provide recreation passes to all grade 8 students. It was later expanded to include grades 7 and 9.
Last year the city provided 609 passes for a cost of $241,620.
The city states that while it is following recommendations from the recreation master plan to address barriers to participation “staff may not have the capacity to eliminate them entirely.”
While students can access other programs council will consider a one-time reduction.
The city is also proposing to make changes to its recreation fee assistance policy which has been accessed by those on AISH, guaranteed income support and other programs.
The city has provided $424,822 worth of free or reduced memberships.
Council will consider changing the policy with a 50 per cent discount and a cap on monetary implications of $150,000.
The city is also proposing to eliminate the corporate discount program which resulted in a cAst of $10,628 last year.
The changes were discussed during city committee last week and are expected to be on the city council agenda for July 7.