Thank you to everyone who attended our stakeholder engagement sessions for the City’s Recreation Facility Allocation Policy back in June. These sessions provided valuable input and background in developing the new policy directions that staff will be recommending to Council in a soon to be released report.
Our work over the summer months has allowed us to develop new policy directions based on the issues that we identified and your feedback. The purpose of this e-mail is to share with you the new policy approach to redistributing available rental times that we will be recommending to City Council:
- Allocation of space based on changing trends and validated requirements:
Recognizing the need for rebalancing current usage patterns, staff is recommending that historical allocation patterns and levels be set aside as a main criteria for allocating rental times and that demonstrated present need and accepted playing time standards for the sport become the main driver for determining eligibility. Under this approach some associations that have been receiving more than their proportionate share will see a reduction in their ice allocation and conversely, groups who have seen growth in their association may see an increase in their allocation of available time slots. This will allow staff to be more responsive to changes in trends in our user groups.
- Geographic redistribution of available rental times based on need:
Geographic redistribution of available rental times will allow for users to have increased access to facilities within their neighbouring communities where possible and appropriate.
- A cancellation provision that encourages early returns of unwanted rental times for reselling:
The current policy has a 10 day cancellation period, which is the most generous provision of any municipality and most private providers. This short window to resell returned rental times does not allow enough time for staff and associations to communicate and redistribute returned times to those who may want it. To help remedy this, seasonal users will be required to confirm their rental times by a specified date. After this date, returns will have a graduated “cancellation” fee applied up until 30 days prior to the facility use date, after which returns will no longer be accepted. Slabs, sport fields, and ball diamonds will also have up to 30 days prior to the use of the facility to cancel their contracts.
The new proposed Allocation Policy will be presented to the Community and Protective Services Committee on February 25 and City Council on March 23. The full report will be available on Ottawa.ca on February 18. Public delegations are welcome to address the Committee on February 25 should they wish to comment on the policy. Should you require further clarification on the proposed policy changes, please send an email to [email protected]
Should Council approve the policy on March 23, the new policy provisions will be implemented for Fall 2016 ice time allocations and Spring 2017 sports field/ball diamond and slab allocations.
Dan Chenier, GM
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, City of Ottawa