In the story “Silverthorne PAC proposes facility use agreement with the District of Houston,” published in the Houston Today Apr. 12, 2017 issue, representative of Silverthorne PAC, Amanda Tobin, presented to council their proposal of a user agreement so that students of Silverthorne Elementary School can participate in 10 swim lessons at the Houston Leisure Facility at half the cost of the facility coverage rate.
Facility rental fee cost is $63 per hour, to which Silverthorne PAC is proposing to cover $31.50 an hour and have a user agreement made with the District of Houston over the span of three to five years.
The recommendation requested council to direct district staff to prepare a contract to reduce the leisure facility rental fee to the requested amount of $31.50 per hour during the swim at school program rentals.
“Did they already get a subsidized rate for being residents, or does it not apply here?” asked counsellor Tim Anderson.
“No, we don’t have a different rate for schools,” said Tasha Kelly, manager of leisure services for the District of Houston.
“I just wanted to confirm that it’s in the report it shows after changes we are not running at a loss. So I think it is great. I would encourage if we could get this agreement with other schools and bring more students in since we are not running this at a loss. Let’s drag them in from every town we can,” said counsellor Jonathan Van Barneveld.
“Is Burns Lake going to get that rate also,” asked Anderson.
“No, this agreement is solely with the Silverthorne PAC,” said Kelly. “They would have to come in and apply and present the same work.”
“I think this is great. I would really like to see all school-aged children learning how to swim, especially in the North,” said mayor Shane Brienen.
The recommendation was approved by council for the discount and directed staff to prepare a contract. “Think of this as a letter of intent,” said Pinchbeck. “We intend to enter into an agreement and both the District of Houston and School District 54 now will need to negotiate the terms and conditions. Once the agreement is finalized, municipal staff will need to return to council to obtain ratification of the agreement.”