Quest University has released rental rates for its new all-weather turf field and community sports teams are not impressed.Squamish minor football coordinator Rob Ryan tried to organize a practice schedule with the university so that teams could solve shortened daylight hours by training under the lights together twice a week. But his attempts were stunted by what he calls "ridiculous" user fees.Quest director of recreation and athletics Toran Savjord originally told Ryan that it would cost community groups $200 per hour to use the field. Therefore, each two-hour football practice would cost $400. However, Savjord later said he was mistaken and the cost is actually $100 per hour plus lighting fees based on what comparable fields charge in other parts of the country.Ryan said the fee remains too high for community sports groups to afford."Now basically any access to the field has been removed because there's nobody that can pay $100 an hour in all honesty," he said. "They've set it at a rate obviously with that in mind. To me there's just one purpose there and that's setting it at a rate where they don't have to deal with anybody using it so it's always available for themselves."Mayor Ian Sutherland said he understands Ryan's concerns, especially since the district made various concessions during the building of the university with an understanding the community would be allowed to benefit from the facilities. That understanding is outlined in the 2002 Community User Agreement between Quest and the District of Squamish. "The rental fees for the community use amenities for a community user who is a non-profit group will be consistent with the fees charged to non-profit groups by the District of Squamish and School District 48," states one section of the agreement.Sutherland noted the intention of the agreement may have shifted as the university switched hands from founder and president David Strangway to various other administrators. "I think the people that were there in the beginning had a natural inclination to be more a part of the community, and I don't think that's so much the case right now, so that's adding a new wrinkle to it," he said.Sutherland said another problem is that the district does not have a similar all-weather field with which to determine appropriate rental fees. However, he noted that perhaps Brennan Park Arena could be used as a comparison."To give it some perspective, with minor hockey and figure skating for the arena we charge $61 per hour, so it shouldn't cost any more to maintain a field than it does to maintain a hockey rink.""That's probably the biggest comparison we have in terms of long term cost and upkeep," said Savjord.Savjord said the school is not swayed by that analogy. Every eight years the turf has to be replaced for an estimated $2 million and each lighting pole cost $80,000, he said, and the fact that Quest is privately funded nullifies Sutherland's comparison."The true cost of running the arena is paid for by the town - that's not the true cost of running the arena. We're not publicly funded, we're private. If the town wants to publicly fund us, then we'll charge lower rates. I think that's a ridiculous comparison," he said. "I don't think people understand the quality of field that we built and so in some respects we can't just give it away, although we'd like to, and I'm more than willing to work with the community but it's got to be in more effective ways than paying $20 to use the field."According to Ryan, Quest shouldn't have made an agreement they can't keep. As it stands, the community cannot benefit from the field, he said. "If they didn't get concessions then fine but they've traded off and as far as I'm concerned they owe the community."
