Food vendors at Warman’s two arenas are getting a break on their monthly lease fees.
Warman City Council passed a resolution at its meeting on Monday, September 28 to reduce the monthly rental rates for food vendors at the city-owned facilities by 50% for the period from August 2020 to January, 2021.
The resolution included a provision that the lease rates would be reviewed again in January 2021.
The decision to cut the lease rates in half is a reflection of the sharp decrease in the number of customers using the city-owned arenas since March.
The vendors include three businesses at the Legends Centre: Subway, Twinses Restaurant and Booster Juice; and one at the Warman Diamond Rodeo Arena: Diamond Concession owned by Tena Rempel.
In a report to the September 28 council meeting, Warman Recreation and Community Services Manager Paul McGonigal said the request by vendors for lease reductions is reasonable based on projections for the next few months. He noted there will be no scrimmages, games or tournaments until at least Christmas. There will also be no major events, trade shows or fundraisers until further notice.
In addition, crowd sizes are limited to a mere 30 spectators in the arena and there is no spectator viewing in the gymnasiums. The closing off of the Legends Centre from the Warman Community Middle School has also deeply cut into the lunchtime business of the vendors.