City hall is making it easier for residents to access ice time, sports courts and indoor turf at community venues by adjusting the booking and usage policies for certain venues.
During its recent regular meeting, city council unanimously approved amendments to the City of Moose Jaw’s arena use policy and the Yara Centre booking and usage policy.
Below is a summary of the changes to each policy.
Arena usage policy
The arena usage policy outlines the city’s annual seasons and allocation processes to use arena ice and the Kinsmen Sportsplex sports court. The policy is reviewed annually to ensure the seasons and booking processes remain applicable based on current use and demand.
The previous start date to use Mosaic Place ice was the last week of August and the previous end date was when the Warriors’ season finished. The new start date is Aug. 15 and the end date is April 9, or when the Warriors’ season ends.
The previous start and end dates for Kinsmen Arena ice were Sept. 15 and March 31, respectively, while the new start and end dates are Sept. 12 and March 15.
The previous start and end dates for the Burt Hunt Arena ice were Oct. 1 and March 15, respectively. Under the updated policy, the start date remains and the end date is April 9.
The previous start and end dates for the Wally Boschuk Arena ice were Oct. 15 and March 15, respectively. Under the updated policy, the start date remains the same and the end date is April 9.
Meanwhile, the Kinsmen Arena sports court’s start and end dates were April 15 and Aug. 28, respectively, but those dates have now changed to the first Monday in April and the third Sunday in August, respectively.
Other changes to the policy include:
- Updating the off-season rate periods, with regular-season ice booking rates now applying from Oct. 1, 2022 to April 9, 2023. This means the adult prime rate time will still apply for all September ice rentals
- Updating the ice allocation timelines to reflect the new arena seasons
- Removing the increased fee for unused ice or floor time fees; regular fees now apply instead
- Removing the pre-emption special event fee for regular minor users and returning to seasonal ice
- Adding direct billing credit approval and refund and cancellation terms to align with billing practices in other venues such as Yara Centre
- Adding a section on how dressing rooms will be allocated and prioritized
Yara Centre policy
The booking and usage policy for Yara Centre has been updated because the last time the policy was amended was in 2021. Since then, city hall has renewed prime tenant agreements with Moose Jaw Minor Soccer and Saskatchewan Selects Football.
Some changes to the policy include:
- Renaming the policy to Yara Centre Booking and Usage Policy from Field House Booking and Usage Policy
- Updating the scheduling timelines section to reflect new indoor turf seasons and allocation timelines
- Adding wording to the programming priority section to say that bookings must be made before April 215 to quality as a regular user
- Updated the general usage and booking conditions section, including organized and drop-in use and turf use, set up and clean-up
- Adding a section about meeting spaces so that such spaces are subject to department rates and fees and not included in the bookings
- Updating the annual policy review timelines so city council approves any policy changes in February of each year so changes can be implemented before the start of the new booking season
The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 13.
