As presented by Councillor McIntosh:
WHEREAS the City of Greater Sudbury operates three campground (trailer park) facilities through a purchase of service agreement at Centennial Park (Whitefish), Ella Lake Park (Capreol) and Whitewater Lake Park (Azilda);
AND WHEREAS the City of Greater Sudbury owns the waterfront properties upon which the trailer parks are operated upon;
AND WHEREAS the Official Plan, at Section 7.3 Parks & Open Space Designation, 7.3.1 Parks and Open Space Public Ownership at subsection 8 stipulates that “8. Waterfront properties owned by the municipality will generally not be offered for sale or disposal…”
AND WHEREAS the Core Service Review report prepared for Council’s review suggested at page 18, Ref. no. 33, under “Opportunities Requiring Further Study” that the City of Greater Sudbury perform a deep dive of the revenue generated vs. the cost of operating trailer parks to assess whether the costs of running trailer parks are worth the revenue generated from these services;
AND WHEREAS the Core Service Review also indicated that service levels for the corporation’s trailer parks were classified as “above standard” because Greater Sudbury is unique in its provision of these services;
AND WHEREAS the Core Service Review also indicated at page 111 that “It should be noted that electrical upgrades are required for Trailer Parks with an estimated cost of $427,000 budgeted for 2021”;
AND WHEREAS on June 23rd, 2020, the COVID-19 Update Report generated considerable discussion among Council Members about whether municipal campgrounds should remain closed for the remainder of the 2020 operating season as a cost avoidance to be applied to offset the projected year-end 2020 COVID-19 deficit, which also raised the question of whether the City of Greater Sudbury should continue to operate trailer parks;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to prepare a report in Q4-2020 for the Community Services Committee’s consideration outlining the following:
a) An evaluation of the operating and expected short-term capital costs to operate the 3 existing campground facilities versus the capital and operating cost of converting the lands to a community or regional park pursuant to section 7.2 of the Official Plan – Parks and Open Space Classification and Provision Targets.
b) In consultation with Economic Development, an evaluation of the potential to pivot the campground facilities away from seasonal rentals towards short-term rentals which could be marketed to out-of-town visitors (post COVID-19)
c) Provide an analysis of the fee structure and rental terms necessary to ensure that the full costs of operating the camp ground facilities are covered by user fees.