North Stars President Shandon Reichert, bottom centre, made a request to council via Zoom during Monday's meeting, asking for a reduction in rink rental fees at the Civic Centre on game nights. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Support for North Stars

City supports North Stars with grant to help offset financial impact of COVID-19

Nov 24, 2020 | 4:02 PM

North Battleford city council is supporting the Junior A Battlefords North Stars team, dealing with the financial impact from COVID-19.

Council agreed to provide an interim grant to the organization for a reduced rink rental rate at the Civic Centre on game days, to help offset some of the organization’s lost revenue from the province’s capacity restrictions.

The grant will represent the difference between the team’s contract price and the lower Triple A price proposed.

Based on the Junior A Battlefords North Stars current contract, their rental terms include league and playoff games through to league finals are set at $1,166 per game, plus annual CPl adjustment.

The grant reflects a reduction in the rates to about $600 per game night, which the North Stars have been paying currently in their regular games. This is also the rate for the AAA Battlefords Stars team.

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The city said the grant value will be reviewed, depending on changes to the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s capacity restrictions.

North Stars President Shandon Reichert made a presentation to council via Zoom asking for assistance for the organization.

“We are seeking approval to have this AAA rate for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season,” Reichert said. “Each game could be our last, and at this moment we are planning week to week.”

Usually North Star games have about 800 to 1,100 in attendance. But with the current spectator capacity at 150 based on the restrictions, that is a drop in attendance of between 86 to 94 per cent.

Reichert said the organization is “impacted drastically” from the lost revenue.

“We are not able to accommodate our 254 season pass holders and therefore are selling tickets on a per-game basis,” he said. “We are moving to a pay-to-play scenario to cover billet costs. However, we still face losing the club to the financial and social impacts of COVID. Next season is in jeopardy if we cannot remain in operation.”

Council supported administration’s recommendation to approve the North Stars hardship request of a per-game rate reduction for the 2020-2021 season in the form of a grant. The timeline for this rate-reduction grant will be conditional on the Saskatchewan Health Authority official guidelines on gathering levels at hockey arenas, and will be revisited by administration and council if these guidelines change.

Mayor David Gillan said the North Stars have seen a significant decline in revenue this year, so the city wants to offer its support.

“The North Stars are a very big part of our community,” he said. “We recognize that they are really in a very unusual situation this year. The city is trying to be very helpful in doing what we can to keep this team in the community.”

Coun. Bill Ironstand, who said he is a proud alumni of the North Stars, said he is strongly in favour of helping the team.

“They are our team [of] the Battlefords…,” he said. “I fully support that we give them the break as they are our community team.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW