The City of Grande Prairie is adjusting booking times and costs for the Eastlink Centre and Outdoor pool to help alleviate wait times. The bylaw amendment currently specifies the adjustments to be active so long as pandemic precautions are in effect.
Grande Prairie Mayor Bill Given says the ability to adjust the fees is being left with city staff to make the process easier.
“Rather than having a really burdensome process where administration has to come to city council for each one of those changes, what we’re proposing is city council delegates the fee structure authority to administration as those needs change,” says Given.
The proposed process would allow for quick changes to user fees and booking times, as needs can fluctuate due to COVID-19. Given adds no currently posted fees for using city facilities will increase without notice.
“This delegation of authority would only extend for a certain period of time— we haven’t decided on exactly how long that will be, but those were some of the major caveats that council wanted to see,” says Given.
“So the idea here is that rather than every single change administration might need to make over the coming months having to come back through council, back through a formal bylaw amendment, and back through readings at a regular council meeting, what we can say is administration has the ability to change those rates based on the current situation.”
Administration will also have the final say when it comes to shutting down or restarting facilities based on outbreak numbers.