A Huron East councillor has raised concerns over the increasing costs for recreational facilities in the municipality.
Ray Chartrand explained to council recently that there was a time when arenas covered about 80 per cent of the cost of their operation. But he says the Vanastra Recreation Centre, Seaforth Arena and the arena in Brussels are now only covering about 43 per cent of their costs.
Chartrand points to increasing costs and declining hours of use as the reasons, but adds in breaking down the draft budget, he found the three facilities lost almost half a million dollars last year and are projected to lose even more this year.
He suggests it's time the municipality had a strategic plan for the next three or four year and looked at what the recreational needs of the municipality will be in the future.
Chartrand explains one of the big problems with arenas is the cost of keeping ice in the buildings.
He says the utility bill at the Seaforth Arena was 90-thousand dollars last year, but on week days from eight in the morning till about four in the afternoon, no one is using the ice so it's not generating any revenue.
Chartrand says the amount of tax dollars currently going to recreation is more than taxpayers can afford.
