FORT FRANCES — Reprieve is coming for a local group as the town looks to adjust some user fees.
At last Monday night's meeting at the Civic Centre, Fort Frances town council heard a report from administration recommending that the Cyclone Swim Club receive a bit of a break on their pool rental fees this season.
The issue was raised by the Swim Club at council's September 9, 2024, meeting, where they submitted a letter detailing the myriad problems they encountered when the Memorial Sports Centre pool shut down last year due to necessary renovations.
“As you know, the Cyclone Swim Club was unable to continue the 2023-2024 season at the Memorial Sports Centre pool due to renovations,” their letter read.
“This was a hardship that resulted in a large loss of revenue and confidence in the club. The closure was not communicated in a timely fashion to the club, and had reopen dates that changed frequently. Fortunately we were able to continue with our competitive season by using the pool in International Falls.
"However, we had to provide refunds for the non-competitive members as the pool in International Falls could not accommodate the entire club. This was a devastating situation for the swimming community.”
The club noted that they currently spend between $20,000 and $30,000 per season in facility rental fees “depending on how many hours we can afford that year” and that these fees have become unsustainable for families, leading to a downturn in enrolment.
"They also alleged that their costs are “the largest regional pool costs,” for using a pool that was “in disrepair and unsafe to continue programming.”
The Cyclone Swim Club then asked that the town make an in-kind sponsorship to the club to cover pool rental time between September 2024 and June 2025 to allow the club to work on rebuilding their membership and recoup revenue losses from the pool's closure, as well as to make an evaluation of the facility's rental fees to “bring them in line” with other facilities in the region.
According to the administrative report, Fort Frances' pool rental rates are “in line with those of other regional facilities,” noting that other regional pool rental rates have some conditions that can bring their rates up to, if not higher than, Fort Frances' current rate.
At last Monday night's meeting, council noted that the town was already in the process of evaluating its pool rental fees as part of the annual Schedule of Fees bylaw review, which will be complete and take effect for June 1, 2025.
As that date is outside of the scope of the Cyclone's request, administration also brought forward a recommendation that council reduce the pool rental rates for the club from $86.15 per hour to $73.41 per hour for the remainder of the 2024-2025 swim season, which the town says will end on May 31, 2025.
Councillor Wendy Brunetta acknowledged that while the reduced fee is not what the club might have been hoping to see, she hoped it showed that the town is still trying to be “fair.”
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
