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Who owns the bleachers?
That’s the topic of a debate between the provincial government and councillors in Truro and Colchester County.
Last year, a portable bleacher system was purchased to support the defunct Nova Scotia Stampede, which was held at the exhibition grounds in Bible Hill, N.S. The cost of the bleachers was shared between the feds and the province: Ottawa provided $715,278 and the province contributed $550,000.
The new budget for the Rath Eastlink Community Centre (RECC), which previously organized the Stampede, includes a projected $200,000 in revenue over the next year from renting out the bleachers to other events.
But the province says they own the bleachers, not the RECC.
In a statement to CBC News, the Department of Public Works said the bleachers belong to the province and will remain at the exhibition grounds when not in use elsewhere. A spokesperson added the bleachers were used at Halifax Music Week in June.
Staff at the municipally owned RECC previously managed the exhibition grounds until that agreement was terminated by the facility’s board, which is made up of Truro and Colchester council members.
On Monday, Truro council approved the budget that was also passed by Colchester Council in June which includes the revenue from renting out the bleachers the province claims to own.
Truro councillors Alison Graham and Jim Flemming as well as Colchester councillors Lisa Patton and Sherry Martell voted against the budget.
“To project a $200,000 source of revenue from renting bleachers that we currently don’t have in our possession… does not offer confidence for me,” said Martell at the Colchester council meeting.
Colchester Coun. Tim Johnson, who chairs the RECC board, said municipal lawyers are working to find a solution with the province.
“The province does not own all the bleachers. They may say they own some of them. The rest of the money came with federal funds,” he said in an interview in June.
On Monday, Truro chief administrative officer Michael Dolter said the RECC board purchased the bleachers using government funding.
“The province has unilaterally made this decision to do what they’ve done. And again, we’re trying to work with them to find a common ground on it,” Dolter told CBC News.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, which provided the federal funding, previously directed questions about ownership of the bleachers to the municipalities and the province.
The bleacher rentals are one part of a plan to generate revenue to pay for major repairs at the RECC. A facility review is getting underway this week to finalize the cost of repairs, according to Dolter.
The capital budget estimates $232,000 in repairs needed this year, which includes multiple pieces of equipment in the rink, roof and skylight repairs, as well as exterior signage.
Next year, the municipalities are planning an overhaul of the heating and cooling system estimated to cost $4.3 million.
“We should have had these deficiencies fixed long ago, and now they’re all in front of us and they need to be fixed now,” said board chair Tim Johnson.
Johnson said that’s why the board has cut back major event spending by about $2 million.
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