North Bay will have new ice rental rates in effect in April of next year.

That decision was made Tuesday night.

Community Services Committee Chair Mark King says the increase will be above the automatic 3 % increase they bring in every year.

King says the city needs to recover costs for what it puts into the arenas and says the users should be paying half the cost for arenas.

Another change, the prime time ice rates will start at 4 pm, instead of the current 5 pm, and the number of different cost categories is down to 4 from 8.

Councillor Derek Shogren, who did not support the decision, says the cost of renting an arena is just one cost parents who have kids in sports have to worry about.

He says there’s also out of town tournaments and equipment and now they’ll have to pay more to use the ice.

Shogren says he doesn’t want to put up barriers for kids and the biggest one is the rising cost.

Filed under: Derek Shogren, ice rental rates, Mark King