ELORA – Centre Wellington Council is looking to staff to provide more options on how to help the Elora Rocks deal with a $25,000 debt and avoid having the team fold.
In a presentation to Council, Rich Wigmore of the Elora Rocks Hockey Club warned without help to wrangle their debt, the current managers of the club may have to step aside, putting its future in jeopardy.
The Elora Rocks were founded in 1920 but ran into financial difficulty around 2010 and could not pay past debts for ice rentals. They were given an interest-free loan from the council of the day that Wigmore assumed when he took over the management of the team in 2019.
Wigmore is requesting council forgive the loan so that the club can “start with a clean slate.”
However, some councillors like Bronwynne Wilton, were concerned it could set a precedent.
“To me, the precedent has nothing to do with hockey, nothing to do with the Rocks,” explained Wilton. “It’s whether our interest-free loans, that we have a number of to different organizations, that if we forgive one, how do we say no to forgiving others?”
Councillor Kimberely Jefferson sympathized with Wigmore who faced a pandemic and then renovations to the arena in Elora, making it difficult for the team to bring in money.
“He took the one team to a championship the first year, which is amazing,” said Jefferson. “I think that’s something that’s really great for Elora, so I’m of the mind that I would like to help however we can.”
Staff had recommended either forgiving the loan or continuing with the current repayment plan, however council voted to have staff present more options to help the team including refinancing the loan. That report is due back to council on June 10th.