It was a hot topic at the latest City of Humboldt council meeting.
It's getting closer to an opening date for the new Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) which has been linked to the Humboldt Uniplex and the city is working through the details of the Joint Operational Agreement (JOA) for the school division and city.
The JOA was presented to council during the regular council meeting on December 12.
According to the agreement, the city will provide food services to the students, which was one of the main topics council discussed.
"We want to provide the food at an affordable cost to ensure it is available for the students," said Darrell Lessmeister, director of Community and Leisure Services.
When looking through the agreement, council had some questions about the details.
Coun. Marilyn Scott pointed out that the agreement states the city would be responsible for any losses, but the profits would be shared equally one-third to each partner - Horizon School Division, the Greater Saskatoon School District and the City.
"If we share the profits, why don't we share the losses?" asked Scott.
"Instead of sharing the profits, maybe we should see the profits go back into the program," she added.
Lessmeister explained that the intention is to use a cost-recovery system, so the cost of the program will have to be covered first and any profit on top of that will be shared. He will also be headed to Saskatoon to look at some of the hot meal programs that work at their schools, so the city will better know how to run the program and make it work.
"With proper research, there is no reason this shouldn't work," he said.
The hot lunches will only be provided to the students at a cost recovery price, said Lessmeister. Anyone else - such as teachers and visitors to the school - who would like to eat the hot lunch, would pay a different price.
Council also questioned how the vending machines would work in the school, since they might have more perishable items, which could cause the city to lose money.
"We don't own the vending machines," explained Lessmeister. "Companies stock them and take care of them. We get a percentage of the profits... I have never lost money with a vending machine."
He continued to explain since the companies stock them, they own the food in the machines and the city just takes 20 per cent of the profit on the ones they currently have in the Uniplex. If they do not sell anything, the city just doesn't receive any money, but they don't lose any.
Council was not just concerned with the food services portion of the agreement. Tied to that, as well as other sections, was the addition of Carlton Trail Regional College (CTRC) as an owner of the building.
There was some confusion as to what this means, since they will need to own a road and possibly parking spaces to be considered owners.
"I'm worried about the college coming in as a partner at this point," said Scott.
They were concerned about how voting will take place with four partners - such as how will a tie be broken - as well as who they will bill for services they provide - the school or the college.
"The issue is with CTRC and where they stand," said Coun. Aaron Behiel.
Lessmeister said their previous agreement was with the school and they were to be a lessee, but recently they received a grant and decided it would be in their best interest to own instead of lease. He didn't think this would change the JOA because the city will still operate in the same way.
"We will bill the school - how they divide that out is totally up to them," said Lessmeister about who will pay for services such as snow removal and maintenance. "We sold to the school divisions. What they do after (we sold it) is up to them."
This also brought up the food service part of the agreement again, as it says profits will be split between three partners, not four.
Lessmeister explained that some services, such as the food service, will not be offered to CTRC, so they do not need to be included in that part of the agreement.
After Lessmeister answered all council's questions, most found the agreement acceptable, except the way CTRC was added and some of the wording in the JOA.
"If we removed the CTRC pieces, I have no problems with it," said Mayor Malcolm Eaton.
They made some suggestions to work the word cost-recovery into the food services section and renegotiate instead of review during their discussion.
In the end, council decided to table a final decision until their January 8 meeting. Before that meeting, they will ask CTRC to provide them with confirmation of their status in the agreement - whether or not they are a registered owner - and what services they will need, if any, so council knows what steps they will need to take with the JOA.
"At the end of the day, we are partners that have to work together," said Lessmeister. "We are working toward the betterment of the community."
