If you donate an 'asset' to the municipality of Chatham-Kent, there's a possibility you might soon be able to use it free of charge.
Mayor Darrin Canniff submitted a successful motion at the most recent CK council meeting requesting that staff prepare a report that looks at the financial implications of providing community partners free rental to any asset that they have donated to the municipality.
Canniff said he'd heard the issue come up in his meetings with groups across Chatham-Kent.
"In our community meetings, there's a lot of discussions. Every time we ran into somebody who had donated a community asset, [about] the fees there," he said.
Canniff used the Kiwanis Club having to pay to use the Kiwanis Theatre as an example.
"It's kind of an oxymoron when you say, they donated, they helped erect this thing and they have to go off somewhere else to do it. I'm not looking to give a freewheel to them and saying 'okay it's free anytime you want to use it.' Let's come up with something reasonable. That's the concept behind this," explained Canniff.
The motion also included that the waived rental fees would be "subject to defined limitations." This was a concern Councillor Doug Sulman brought up, asking that there are clear definitions on what is considered a "community asset."
"I can think of several groups that have donated massive amounts of money to community assets but didn't donate the entire asset. [Mayor Canniff] used one of those examples. Kiwanis Club did not donate the theatre, they donated a lot of money towards the theatre," said Sulman.
However, Canniff said he is just looking for a simple report to come back that outlines the possibilities.
"Maybe it just be to have a charitable rate, I don't know what it is but we want to keep it simple," said Canniff. "We don't want to drag this out in hours and hours of debate... let's make it simple. The idea is these groups give back to the community and we want them to be able to use the facilities."
Councillor Melissa Harrigan added on to Canniff's motion, requesting that the report include the costs of introducing a not for profit use rate for CK parks, recreation and arts and culture facilities. Harrigan said the intention was to create a more even playing field for the not for profit groups who have made donations.
"The tennis court in Tilbury, for example, donated by the Kinsmen Club. They don't pay fees to play tennis... but that's still a valuable asset that's been donated. Then when the Kinsmen Club wants to rent the arena, they have to pay full price for it," said Harrigan.
Council approved that the report gets created and come back to them for approval no later than the end of November.
