Wawa's arena was a major focus during last night's Corporate Planning Committee meeting, with Wawa Municipal Council considering proposals to change the dates for ice availability and increase user fees.
While the original proposal was to maintain the current policy of making the Tuesday after Thanksgiving the official start to the ice season - adding a one-week "shoulder period" - CAO/Treasurer Maury O'Neill says that "shoulder period" has been dropped in favour of an earlier date, following response from user groups.
Though this does seem to address concerns about the start of the season, concerns were raised about the timing of the end of the season, which is earlier than the normal date of the Old Timers Hockey Tournament, which is usually held the last weekend of March, alongside the Ladies' Curling Bonspiel.
Along with the new official ice season, O'Neill's recommending the municipality increase ice user fees from the current $50 an hour for youth and $110 an hour for adults, noting the fees were compared with other communities.
O'Neill suggested the increase may be considered high, but is needed to cover costs, with Mayor Ron Rody saying the Municipality's "playing catch up" for not having annual increases, noting other municipalities are turning more toward user fees to cover such costs.
There is time for public input on the proposals, which will go to Council for approval December 10th, though they wouldn't apply until the next ice season, a move intended to give users time to plan and adapt.