Arena sale and Aron Theatre investment on the table
Council has a full agenda at its first meeting of 2025
Trent Hills council will hold its first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday with a full agenda that includes actions related to two local landmarks – the Campbellford arena and the Aron Theatre Co-operative.
The agenda says that in private council will discuss the sale of the arena, now that hockey operations have moved to the Sunny Life Wellness and Recreation Centre. That’s not too surprising since the adjacent property to the south and east was approved for development in September.
Well, sort of approved. Read my earlier story here. It was given conditional approval to do something, but since there were no details the eventual developer will have to get the go ahead from the municipality.
Given the controversy surrounding the plans and final sale of the Hastings arena, it’s possible there will be some public interest in what happens to the Campbellford-Seymour Agricultural Community Centre.
It’s worth noting that the budget for 2025 includes $120,000 for consultants to undertake a parks and recreation strategy report. I’m not sure how the current arena site and the fairgrounds might fit into that plan.
The councillors will also be asked to vote on a request to donate about $30,000 to the Aron Theatre. Well, to be accurate, the request is that the municipality not insist on the Aron paying back a loan that was received in 2012 so that the theatre could purchase a new sound system.
That $22,000 loan was structured as a bond paying 2.5 per cent interest that came due on May 1, 2024 and should pay $29,585.85.
The loan was made from the municipal fund, part of the money received when our hydro stations were sold and was administered by the Community Foundation of Campbellford/Seymour and Northumberland. The foundation has written council urging it to forgive the loans.
In her report to council, Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Phillips says that the Aron is looking to switch to a commercial mortgage and forgiving the loan will reduce the amount of that mortgage which “positively impacts the sustainability of this local cultural and social hub.”
In a letter, Martha Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, wrote that the theatre’s General Manager Russ Christianson says the theatre cannot repay all its bonds and plans to ask individuals who hold $96,000 in bonds to consider donating at least part of their investment to the theatre.
“As of October 31, 2024, the Co-op’s total assets (net of depreciation) were $566,011, total liabilities were $225,359 and net retained surplus was $321,673,” Murphy’s letter says. “The Aron’s total operating revenue was $165,879 for January to October 2024 (a 7.5% increase over 2023). 66% of revenue was from Hollywood movies (33% tickets and 33% from concession), 9.5% from special events, 6.4% from membership, 2.3% from rentals, and 2.8% from classic movies.”
Approving council’s pay
Council will also be voting on a bylaw to confirm their pay for 2025. If passed, Mayor Bob Crate will receive $39,346.03, Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf will get $29,346.03, and each of the councillors will receive $24,346.03.
Searching for a new clerk
Doug Irwin, who had been the town’s clerk since 2017, resigned in mid-December to take a similar position in Belleville.
In their closed session, council will discuss appointing an acting clerk while work begins, presumably, to fill that spot. The acting clerk will be appointed in a bylaw to be passed at the end of the meeting.
FYI, Irwin earned $125,289 in 2023, according to the provincial sunshine list. That was down 2 per cent from $128,110 in 2022.
If you’re interested, you can read the full agenda here and even watch the session on Tuesday morning. I’ll be there and will have any updates on these items and at least a couple of other stories. One will be about the planning department interesting update on all the development proposals in the municipality and what stage they are at.
You can read all Trent Hills News stories on my website here.
Art. Wow. Why the closed session on the arena? The renumeration of council members seem a bit over the top. Mayor of Brighton gets 39000 and I believe without all the extras. The Aron theatre over the years has received many grants, how many times can they go to the well. The only good thing I see it will be all taxpayers in Trent Hills effected not just Campbellford. The money that the foundation just came from the ratepayers of Campbellford. Will look forward to a post on the meeting.