Since the summer of 2014, stories have been swirling regarding the situation between the Chestermere Regional Recreation Centre and Rocky View County. This relationship between the CRCA and RVC (Rocky View County) goes back to November 1980 when Rocky View County began leasing the management of the facility to the CRCA. Growing concerns started to arise in December 2013 when RVC was struggling with the lack of transparency and significant number of conflicts of interest with members of the board for the CRCA. Initially, Rocky View County called for the resignations of the board, but that option was rejected by the CRCA board.
So, now what? Well, the AGM was to be held on December 15, 2014, but just a few days before this much anticipated meeting was to occur, it was postponed due to two board members having deaths in their families, confirmed by CRCA board president Brian Stamler. But as the cancellation was such short notice, Corwin McCullagh, Manager of Recreation & Community Support with Rocky View County, was at the rec centre that evening to explain to the public about why there was no AGM and to help answer any questions that Chestermere residents that showed up expecting to attend a meeting might have. It was reported that there were just over a dozen people that came out that evening and two CRCA board members that seemed unaware that the AGM had been postponed. McCullagh confirmed that this was not a previously organized public open house, as was stated on the CRCA website at the time that the announcement was made that the AGM was being postponed.
McCullagh explained, “The County has outlined its concerns to the Board regarding its transparency and conflicts of interest that impact public perception and responsible use of municipal resources. The remaining Board members can either follow through on the County’s request for voluntarily resignation or the CRCA Membership may adopt a special resolution at the upcoming AGM updating the associations bylaws on conflict of interest, clearly defining that any and all personal interests, business or otherwise, that influence the Board’s ability to objectively serve the community are fully disclosed. Either of these outcomes would satisfy the County and see funding reinstated. Contrary to speculation, the County has no intention of taking over the operation of the facility as this would be inconsistent with best practice. ”
Throughout these past few months, it has also been said that the City of Chestermere had pulled it’s funding from the CRCA. Mayor Patricia Matthews commented, “The Town gave notice to Rocky View County that we would be withdrawing from our Capital funding agreement in November but it takes 6 months to come into effect. Over the years the Town has put about $2,000,000 into the facility through Capital support, not operational as RVC has mentioned in their release. Our agreement currently is up to $250,000 for Capital funding based on prior approval from RVC and the Town.”
Mayor Matthews went on to explain, “We discovered this year (2014) that Rocky View County does not recognize us as funding partners in the facility and therefore if it was sold, the investment we had made into Capital projects would not be returned to our taxpayers in any way. Council decided that it would be better to somehow invest in supporting the programs that our residents use at the Rec. Centre rather than improving a facility that would profit some other community if it was sold. The County keeps referring to operational funding but they know we have never given operational funding. The Rec Centre has always been expected to cover their own operational costs and as far as I know they have since Deb Myslicki has been there. ”
With that decision coming down from Chestermere City Council, it was asked if the RVC planned on following suit with pulling their funding. McCullagh had this to say, “This depends upon the outcome of the AGM and up to County Council to ultimately decide. For the time being its business as usual. The County will respect its commitment and reinstate funding provided the CRCA membership collaboratively agrees with County suggested improvements to the association’s bylaws. Given the fact that the majority of patrons are either from Chestermere and Calgary, continued financial support makes sense only if County residents benefit by facility access on a more meaningful level. Without improvement in this area there is a growing argument that county resources should be reallocated to meet demands in Langdon.”
It has been learned that the City of Chestermere did attempt to purchase the rec centre land from Rocky View County. “The Town put forward an offer that was fair from a partner (us, or so we thought) with a considerable capital investment in the facility and based on the assessment of an aging facility. This was not a new proposal but one that had been discussed with RVC many times over the years. We made the offer in hopes of helping to resolve some issues between valued volunteers and the County so that services would continue uninterrupted. We were told they would consider all offers if they put the amenity up for sale so we withdrew and at this time don’t plan to pursue it. We’re focusing on our own future facility instead.” explained Mayor Matthews.
Through this whole shake up, members of the CRCA board have stayed relatively quiet. President Brian Stamler, who has only been the board president for just over a year, did have this to say, “There is quite a bit of information out there that is tainted and it would be difficult to group it all together in a paragraph or a letter. As time goes on, we are getting more and more information. My mission has been to get all the facts. Not hearsay – just the facts. I was put in this place to clean up and I’m a little overwhelmed with what has happened over the last three or four years.”
“There seems to be a difference of opinion of what the county thinks their position is and what the CRCA thinks there position is. That will be defined at the AGM.” Stamler stated.
The next move is the upcoming AGM which is scheduled for 6:30pm on Thursday January 22nd, 2015 in Meeting Room #2 at the Chestermere Rec Centre. In order to attend this meeting, you must have a current membership with the CRCA. For more information on membership, you can visit http://www.chestermerecrca.com/community-info/membership-info/
