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New policy for ice

An ice allocation policy will be coming to Vanderhoof’s ice arena next year.
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The new ice allocation policy will help accomodate growing youth groups and clubs in Vanderhoof

Vivian ChuiOmineca Express

 

An ice allocation policy will be coming to Vanderhoof’s ice arena next year.

The District has just passed a motion to establish a policy for ice use during last council meeting on Aug. 24.

In consultation with user groups — including speed skating, figure skating, and hockey — the council looks to have a policy that provides clarity and it may not change the current procedures in allocating ice, said Tom Clement, the District’s Chief Administrative Officer.

“Right now it has been the way it is forever, nothing has been in writing,” Clement said. “The policy is still going to call for the users to be able to work together.”

User groups currently meet one to two times a year in April or at the end of the summer with their projected dates, and the arena manager creates a schedule accordingly.

Clement said that a written policy will help solve conflicts that have arisen in the past for ice time.

“One of the things happening is that clubs are getting bigger, speed skating is one of the ones,” he said. “We’re getting more people using the arena — in particular the youth sports — sometimes we need to do things to accommodate everybody.”

Calvin Desmarais, ice coordinator of the Nechako Lakes Speed Skating Club said that a policy in place for people to follow will help give a consistent process to ice allocation.

“We all want what we want, for the most part we work together,” said Desmarais.“At times there are conflicts and there’s no arbitration process.”

Clement said the priorities for the arena’s ice would be community use from the District, then youth groups according to a formula based on their number of registrants, and then adult groups, who have the last priority.