The Town of Canmore has officially taken ownership of the sports field adjacent to Our Lady of the Snows in Three Sisters and the local school will contribute funds for its upkeep and maintenance.
But just how much Christ the Redeemer school district should pay was the subject of some debate at Canmore council this in December.
Councillor Ed Russell made an unsuccessful motion to reduce the fees for upkeep of the sports field to $6,000 from a budgeted $13,000.
He said because Canadian Rockies Public Schools pays $6,000, a reduced amount since 2012, for field maintenance at two schools in Canmore, the same rate should be applied to OLS.
“In light of the fact of the continued refusal to pay by the public school, the least we can do as a council is give the same treatment (to OLS),” Russell said.
Fellow councillors were not very supportive of the motion, as OLS has not requested a reduction in fees. It is the first year the school has contributed funds now that the park has been transferred to the Town from Three Sisters.
“I understand your desire to keep things fair, but equal and equitable are not the same thing,” said Councillor Esmé Comfort.
Coun. Sean Krausert said the municipality should encourage the public school board to pay its full share of parks maintenance fees. CRPS reduced its contributions to the municipality for the service from $9,000 a field a year to $3,000 to cover mowing expenses only since 2012.
“I think we should be continuing to ask public schools to do their best to provide more to cover the costs associated with this service,” Krausert said. “I think really where the fairness is, is to live up to the example set by OLS in being able to meet those costs.”
