Municipality of West Elgin

Minutes

West Elgin Community Centre Board of Management

Wednesday, November 06, 2024 at 9:00 A.m. - 10:00 A.m.

West Elgin Community Complex - Hybrid Meeting

160 Main St

West Lorne

Electronic Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Ken Loveland, Dutton Dunwich
• Jim Hathaway, WESC
• Bill Denning, West Elgin
• Jessica Small, WLMHA

Staff Present:

• M. Badura, Treasurer
• Adam Ecker, Recreation Supervisor
• Jenn Vanesse, Recording Secretary
• Terri Towstiuc, Clerk

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1.

Call to Order

Chair K. Loveland called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.

2.

Adoption of Agenda

• Moved: Jim Hathaway, WESC
  Seconded: Jessica Small, WLMHA

  That The Bo Horvat Community Centre Board of Management hereby adopts the Agenda as presented.

  Carried

4.

Minutes

• Moved: Jessica Small, WLMHA
  Seconded: Bill Denning, West Elgin

  That The Bo Horvat Community Centre Board of Management Committee adopt the minutes of October 9th as circulated and printed.

  Carried

5.

Business Arising from Minutes

No business arising from the minutes

6.

Financials

6.1

2025 Arena Fees and Charges

Magda presented the proposed 2025 fees and charges for the arena. With a proposed average of 2% increase to keep up with inflation costs across the board. The increase affects some fees such as ice rental, main floor rental, and advertising. The public skating/programming and skate sharpening did not have an increase proposed.

• Moved: Jim Hathaway, WESC
  Seconded: Bill Denning, West Elgin

  That the Bo Horvat Community Center  Board of Management hereby adopt the proposed fees and charges as presented.

  Carried

6.2

2025 Arena Budget

Magda presented the 2025 Arena Budget which calculated in the 2024 actual, YTD and budget. The grant from Dutton-Dunwich is their portion of the deficient that is calculated by their user base. Ice rentals are anticipated to increase slightly as there was a 31% increase from last year of usage, and costs will be going up 2%. The sign revenue is not expected to be over $7000 as we only have so much advertising space. The public skating increases slightly at the hopes of having the skates sponsored as they were this year. Skate sharpening would stay about the same as it is for this year.

On the expense side, the wage allocation is 75-79% of the booking revenue. Training is needed for the operators to use the equipment every year. Memberships & Dues are our SOCAN licensing to be able to play music in the arena. Health and Safety is the green books that get updated and any other issues that arise that need to be addressed. The utilities and the rest of the line items were straight forward on what they are used for. The transfer to reserves would be for the dehumidification system replacement. The transfer from reserves would be under the assumption that we receive the grant for the arena renovations which will be done in phases. The dehumidification system is planned to go in after the arena closes in spring 2025.

6.3

2025 Budget - Capital

Magda presented the10 Year Capital Forecast to the board. For 2025, the dehumidification system, replacing the dasher boards, glass, benches and signage are hoping to be covered by the CSRIF grant that was applied to which is Phase 1 of the grant. We do not want the arena closed for usage during much needed times, so this is why it is proposed to do it in 2 phases. The second phase will be the construction project of installing 2 new dressing rooms. Overall we are looking at about $10,000 in fundraising needed to fully pay for the renovations as long as we are approved for the grant. It was brought to the boards attention that the community is asking for concept plans to be posted at the arena so we are transparent with the progress. As the board members we can take any feedback and bring it to the meetings for input. The grant had a built in 30% contingency cost built in. Once construction is done, the reserves will be depleted and , so the board will have to come up with a plan on how to rebuild the reserves again.

The concept plans did change a bit for the application as the size of dressing rooms increased and the office was moved in location too. Staff will get the layout together and posted at the arena. Magda suggested the purchase of a tv screen for the warm room to have all the updates on there to keep everything current and easily updateable.

• Moved: Bill Denning, West Elgin
  Seconded: Jessica Small, WLMHA

  That The Bo Horvat Community Centre Board of Management adopt the Capital Forecast as presented.

  Carried

6.4

Financials as of October 31, 2024

The financials were presented without much concern. Typical utility costs, bookings were up about 15% from YTD, and the revenue and expenses for the arena renaming was close to zeroing out.

• Moved: Jim Hathaway, WESC
  Seconded: Bill Denning, West Elgin

  That The Bo Horvat Community Centre Board of Management hereby adopts the financials as printed and circulated.

  Carried

7.

New Business

7.1

Skating Club Update

Everything is running smoothly and efficiently thanks to staff.

7.2

Minor Hockey Update

WLMHA has a tournament the weekend of November 16th with an overwhelming response for some age groups. They are seeking the boards permission to have a food truck available at the tournament in the parking lot, and using the concession stand only to take the orders. The boards approved as long as there was proof of $2 million liability, and to confirm with staff whether it is just Friday and Saturday, or all weekend.

There are some hooks in the dressing rooms that are broken, and Adam will look into these and have them fixed as soon as possible.

There was an issue with one of the advertising signs that went up in the arena, but it has since been moved so it is not overtop of the home teams dressing room.

Jessica would like to have the user policy and timeline added to a future agenda to be discussed further if we are going to be updating it to accommodate the local groups first and foremost.

8.

Staff Operations Update

Repairs were done to the heater in the warm room so it is now 20 degrees in there. The Out to Lunch Zamboni advertising is now in place. The part time staff is fully trained and worked their first solo shift on the weekend. The have purchased a blade changing assistant that holds the blade and bolts, etc... as this was a health and safety concern with staff holding the sharp blade, and there will be training implemented from Zamboni shortly. The hot water heater rental in the concession stand was returned to reliance as the concession stand will no longer be utilized for cooking. Tomorrow the Zamboni has its scheduled emissions test.

9.

Adjournment

• Moved: Jessica Small, WLMHA
  Seconded: Jim Hathaway, WESC

  That the Bo Horvat Community Centre Board of Management hereby adjourn at 10:12 a.m. to meet again on December 11th, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.

  Carried