City council skated over a key detail when they approved a user-fee bylaw without discussion on March 21, which some Valley residents now say should be reconsidered.
In the change, which took effect April 1, general memberships are no longer being sold for the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre.
There were approximately 774 active general memberships as of mid-March, whose memberships will be allowed to continue until their expiration dates, city Community Development general manager Steve Jacques clarified.
The general memberships ($230 for children/seniors, $325 for students, $455 for adults and $890 for families) allowed holders access to the facility alongside unlimited free registration to aquatic, group lessons and fitness programming.
In its place are facility and squash facility memberships, including access to public swims, drop-in fitness classes and aqua fitness. Other programs are available to members at a 15-per-cent discount, including swimming lessons previously included with general memberships.
With various things now paid for separately, Valley East Community Action Network chair Suzanne Leblanc told Sudbury.com that she expects to see people's recreation bills spike.
Families with children might take the greatest financial hit, she said, describing the cost jump as “a bit much.”
Leblanc is also frustrated about how the change was sprung upon members. She found out about it in an email from the city she received around the time the new fee structure took effect.
The last time the city proposed a fee change at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre several years ago, she said it was publicly debated beforehand, and subsequently shut down.
In the email Leblanc received from the city, it’s noted the centre’s general membership “provided value beyond the user fee charged for the service,” and that the charge has now been standardized across the municipality.
Jacques told Sudbury.com the fee change is “about equity and access,” and that Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre general members had been receiving a much better deal than members at other recreation facilities in Greater Sudbury.
“It’s now equitable,” he said, adding the new fee structure is now the same as those offered at other facilities, which is based more closely on what people have access to.
Although not opposed to user-fee increases in general, Leblanc said the city doing away with general membership has a much greater financial impact than some people will be able to handle.
Leblanc has already written a letter to Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre, whose ward includes the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre. She plans on presenting a petition to city officials during a May 3 town hall meeting scheduled to take place with Lapierre and Mayor Paul Lefebvre. The meeting is to take place from 6:30-8 p.m. at Centennial Community Hall in Hanmer.*
A similar meeting for the neighbouring Ward 5 is slated to take place on April 12 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at École secondaire Macdonald-Cartier.
Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent said he expects user fee concerns to come up during his ward’s meeting, since many Ward 5 residents are also members of the recreation centre.
“From what I’m hearing from members, there’s some disappointment in the new structure,” he said, describing the city’s intent as “aligning the fee structures so there’s fairness.”
The deal members had at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre was unlike what is offered at other centres throughout the municipality, and he said the change is about fairness.
The intention was never to put recreation services out of reach for residents, he said, noting there are resources in place for families who can’t afford it, which the city will help link them with. They also offer discounted swim lessons for families with more than two children.
With no public consultation or communication to the public prior to the new fee structure’s implementation, Parent said there’s a lesson to be learned for the city, and that he will advocate for a better communication plan in the event of similar future changes..
“I don't like to see individuals feeling the way they’re feeling about this,” he said, describing some people as feeling “blindsided.”
Lapierre said he has received three phone calls from residents about the fee change, and read a lot of comments about it on Facebook.
“I understand their frustration,” he said, adding that the change might mean some people will end up paying more.
Lapierre echoed the sentiment shared by Parent, that it’s about fairness.
“The deal at Howard Armstrong was no longer equitable to what everyone else in the city was paying for the same service,” Lapierre said. “They were getting a significant discount at only that facility, so we’ve equalized it across the board so it’s all the same.”
In this year’s city user fee changes, which took effect April 1, most user fees went up by 6.9 per cent. This is in keeping with the city’s Miscellaneous User Fee Bylaw, which increases fees by the greater of three per cent or the September 2022 Stats Canada Consumer Price Index.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
*Editor's note: This date has been updated. Incorrect information was given to Sudbury.com.
