Prince George City Council will face more pressure from user groups to re-open arenas and civic facilities.
A report from the city’s finance department ahead of tonight’s meeting suggests keeping these buildings closed until the end of 2020.
The city is also considering shutting them down until the end of next year unless the province enters Phase 4 of its recovery plan.
PG Mayor Lyn Hall told MyPGNow.com the city has some tough decisions to make, given the demand from user groups who want to see arenas re-opened.
“We have the Civic and Conference Centre, we have the arenas, the pools and as you know, we recently re-opened up fields for baseball, soccer and Masich Place. As much as Phase 3 was a re-opening, there is no question that it’s causing us some issues that we have to deal with.”
In an effort to cut costs, the city elected to keep arenas closed indefinitely earlier this month as they continue to lose a million dollars a month due to the pandemic and are projecting a nine-million dollar shortfall heading into 2021.
In June, a report was presented that included tentative reopening dates for some arenas during August and September, a plan that has since changed and has led to some opposition from several user groups like the Prince George Figure Skating Club and PG Minor Hockey among others.
While these organizations are pointing to other cities that have kept rinks open, Hall stated it’s not that simple.
“You cannot compare what they are doing in other municipalities with what we are having to do. The COVID impact is significant to all of us and we will deal with it in our own way because it has differing effects on all of us.”
“For me, I am a big sports guy, I would love to see us do something with rinks. I would love to have the WHL, BC Junior League, I would love to see minor hockey and figure skating but we have to consider without question, the financial impact without question the impact it will have on all of the residents in our community.”
Hall admits re-opening all of the arenas, much to the delight of user groups isn’t financially prudent.
“My perspective is we certainly cannot open all of them there is no question about that and I think we need to have some conversations with these user groups about the financial impacts it has on our city and our finances when it comes to possibly open two or three.”
“How do we open up two or three rinks for example, how do we do that and how do we meet those financial obligations? We’re subsidizing our facilities now to the tune of about 40% pre-COVID.”
According to Hall, if the Aquatic Centre did re-open, it would be restricted to 40 bathers at a time, in two-hour increments. The proposed schedule would see five two-hour blocks per day during the week with four per day during the weekend.
During normal operations, the city subsidizes the cost of pool operations to the tune of $7 per visit, however, due to the restrictions put in place by BC Health Officials, this would spike to roughly $56 per visit.
“We can only have up to 50 people in the pool at one time for a period of time and then we have to undergo cleaning protocols. The 50 is inclusive of staff – I would suggest the best case scenario we may see 40 to 45 swimmers may be in the pool under the Phase 3 criteria. From a revenue-generating perspective, we are not generating revenue on the positive side of the leger under those conditions.”
“Given the conditions, we need to follow and Dr Henry’s orders, it increases our subsidization in some cases by at least 20%.”
“Therein lies our dilemma,” added Hall.
In addition, a petition has been created asking to the city to re-open recreational facilities, which has seen over 21-hundred signatures to date.
FACILITIES:
Prince George Conference and Civic Centre (PGCCC):
According to the city, the PGCCC’s operational cost-recovery rate was approximately 68% in 2018 and 2019.
Should the Conference and Civic Centre reopen in September, the rate could be as low as 22%.
The cost of reopening the PGCCC for the remainder of this year is projected to be approximately
$330,000
If it reopens next year, assuming current restrictions remain, the City’s 2021
the budget shortfall is estimated to increase by $800,000.
Aquatics:
The Aquatic Centre was tentatively scheduled to reopen following the Labour Day weekend, on
September 8th.
If aquatics remains closed, substantial cost savings could be realized.
The aquatics budget for this year will be favourable by several hundred thousand dollars (initial estimates of $600,000).
Arenas:
RMCA:
City officials say the operational cost-recovery rate of the RMCA continues to decline.
In 2018, the RMCA had a cost-recovery rate of 37%. Last year, that declined to 28% (due to required maintenance and iceplant work).
If the RMCA re-opens in September, the operational cost recovery rate for 2020 is
projected to be 16%.
The cost of opening the RMCA for the remainder of 2020 is estimated at an approximate $210,000
(5 months).
The 2021 city budget impact is estimated at slightly higher than double this, at approximately $500,000.
ELKSENTRE:
Similar to the RMCA, the long-term operational cost recovery rate of the Elksentre
continues to decline.
In 2018, the cost-recovery rate of Elksentre was 50%.
Last year, it dropped to 43%.
Should the Elksentre reopen in September, the cost-recovery rate is projected to be 21%.
The cost of re-opening the Elksentre for the remainder of this year is estimated at an approximate
$120,000 (5 months).
Next year’s budget impact is estimated at $290,000.
CN CENTRE:
In 2018, the cost-recovery rate for CN Centre was 72%.
Last year it was 64%, although the long-term trend is downward (fewer
hockey fans and concertgoers).
If re-opened this fall, the 2020 operational cost recovery rate is projected to be 41%.
The cost of re-opening for the remainder of this year is estimated at an approximate
$300,000 (5 months).
The 2021 city budget impact is estimated at about $720,000.
KIN ARENAS (ALL 3 SHEETS):
The least expensive option is the Kin Arenas.
If the three Kin Arenas reopen in September, the cost-recovery rate is projected to be 37%.
The cost of re-opening the Kins for the remainder of 2020 is estimated at an approximate $300,000 (5
months).
Next year’s budget impact is estimated at slightly higher than double this, at approximately
$720,000.
City Manager Katheleen Soltis stated the city was three million dollars over budget at the end of June.
This includes 2-million in lost gaming revenue from the province due to the closure of the Treasure Cove Casino while the remainder of the deficit is a result of an overage for snow removal.
In addition, council will debate a possible expansion to the Car 60 Program, a joint partnership between the Prince George RCMP and Northern Health.