HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-03, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013. PAGE 17. Soccer association goes over budget on buildingA well-meaning gesture by Huron
East Council left councillors a little
miffed at their Dec. 18 meeting
when St. Columban Soccer went
over budget on their new building.
Appearing before council in 2010,
representatives from the St.
Columban Soccer Association told
council that they were hoping to
build new change room/washroom
facilities and budgetted $93,000 for
the project.
At the Dec. 18 meeting, however,
council was informed that the
project had nearly doubled in size,
ballooning to just over $175,000,
more than $82,000 over the
estimated cost.
When the project was first
approved in 2010, council pledged
one-third of the total costs up to a
maximum of $30,000. Additionally,
the association received a Trillium
grant for $50,000 towards the
project.
Treasurer Paula Michiels prepareda report for council suggesting thatcouncil contribute a further $20,000to the project, bringing council’s
total contribution up to $50,000,
leaving the association with a
remaining debt of just over $65,000.
Clerk-Administrator Brad Knight
compared the situation to the
overhaul of the Brussels Optimists
Park.
Councillor Andy Flowers,
however, was troubled by the
decision made by the association to
keep spending despite being over its
limit.
At the beginning of construction
in 2012, Michiels’ report read, costs
were projected to be between
$135,000 and $139,000, more than
$40,000 higher than projected. At
that point, Flowers suggested,
perhaps the project should have been
halted or at least re-evaluated.
“They just kept going and going,”
Flowers told councillors, “where did
they expect the money to come
from?”
Flowers said that even ifrepresentatives of the associationhad returned to council to discuss therising costs, perhaps that would have
been sufficient, but the last time
council had heard from them was in
2010 when they approved the initial
funding.
Blaney said that in reality council
was likely to foot a lot of the bill,
saying that the building and the
property, at the end of the day,
belong to the municipality.
“What worries me is the idea of
leaving us in the dark,” Blaney said,
agreeing with Flowers that someone
should have reported back to
council. “We’re not mean.”
Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler, while
acknowledging that council could
have handled the situation better,
said they should just approve the
second phase of the grant and move
on.
“I think we should just learn from
our mistakes. I have full faith in
them,” Steffler said. “These kids
deserve recreation as much as
anyone else.”Larry McGrath also had full faithin the organization. He said theywent ahead with a strong building
and it’s for the betterment of the
municipality in the end.
“We own it at the end of the day,”
he said. “They built a good building
and they will fundraise for the rest of
the money that they owe us.”
Councillor Dianne Diehl agreed
with Flowers, saying that if the
association was in over their heads,
they should have returned to council
and asked for help.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan,
however, realized how a situation
like this might happen. It has
happened before in the municipality,
he said, where council isn’t able to
spend the money, so a local service
group steps up.
“We’re trying to pinch pennies and
sometimes groups that recognize a
need put in that extra effort,” he said.
“They went grossly overboard and
it’s just a bad situation.”
Ken Ryan, a representative of the
association, was present at themeeting and said he was confidentthe debt could be paid down withinfive years. He said the association
already has a commitment of $5,000
per year for the next three years from
the Municipality of West Perth, so
that alone is $15,000 and that the
balance can be raised through club
fundraising.
Diehl told Ryan that council’s
problem with the situation was that it
just came across as disrespectful.
She said that if a representative had
returned to council and updated
councillors on the situation, it would
have been a completely different
story.
Council approved the additional
$20,000 grant (to be taken from the
municipality’s parkland reserve) and
voted to allow the rest to be given to
the association as an interest-free
loan to be paid back with no definite
timeline.
A provision was put in the motion
that the situation be reviewed on an
annual basis.
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