FALL RIVER: The Halifax Regional Municipality will look at ways to implement a policy to better guide their dealings with short-term leases and building usages.
The issue arose after a local non-profit organization had a difficult time obtaining a short-term lease for the old Fall River Recreation Centre. The Fall River Open Gate Church asked HRM for permission to use the centre as a drop-off centre for Haiti earthquake donations. While it was eventually approved, it took longer than many expected because there were no guidelines for short-term leases or uses of HRM-owned property and buildings.
Barry Dalrymple, HRM councillor for District 2 (Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank), said the municipality currently has no such policy.
“It was a bit of a struggle to get to use this building,” Dalrymple said.
He explained that once Annette Verge, from the CAO’s office, became involved, things moved more quickly and an arrangement was worked out.
“She obviously has more power than the local councillor,” he added. “We probably had it all done within six to eight weeks, which may seem like a long time to normal folks, but it’s extremely quick as far as government is concerned.
Dalrymple said HRM will take all the information they have gathered through this process and incorporate it into a future policy to have some guidelines.
“We’re going to use this, what we’ve gone through in the last two months, to put a process in place to deal with short-term leases and uses of HRM properties and buildings,” he said.
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