Air Ronge residents were faced with $1,000 fees to utilize the Mel Hegland Uniplex. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

council meeting

Deal struck between municipalities averts Air Ronge recreation user fee implementation

Sep 17, 2025 | 12:04 PM

Air Ronge residents won’t have to pay steep user costs at La Ronge facilities after a deal was struck at a regular council meeting on Tuesday.

Air Ronge council decided to increase their share of their 2025 recreation contribution to the town to $85,000, which is on par with the 2024 funding level that had previously been agreed to by both municipalities. It was one of five options Air Ronge was presented with as a way of lifting user fees, which were set to begin this month.

“Our council felt Option A was the most practical solution to this issue for the interim, and what the current budget permitted. It will grant everyone time and allow the ice user groups to proceed as normal, while ongoing work continues behind the scenes,” Air Ronge Mayor Julie Baschuk wrote to larongeNOW in a statement.

“The quad community leadership, alongside the ice user groups, have a lot of hard work ahead of us with many difficult decisions to come. While I am optimistic and remain committed to what regionalized recreation can look like down the road, I know it comes down to each council supporting the vision, and ultimately, determining how we each can sustainably fund this.”

Baschuk also noted 2026 budget deliberations are currently on the table, where council will need to determine how they prioritize the ever-growing needs and projects of the community. She added affordability for residents is at the forefront, which makes these kinds of decisions difficult.

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“How do you realistically see growth in service delivery and capacity, upgrades in basic infrastructure like roads, walkways and parks, housing needs, and every other pressing item without a tax increase?” she wrote.

“These are the things we talk at length about and have taken into consideration throughout this entire user fee topic. It is complex and we want to ensure each household with differing wants and needs is considered when making decisions.”

La Ronge Mayor Joe Hordyski is happy the village decided to increase their recreation contribution and an agreement is now in place for the time being. In recent weeks, he said there has been meaningful conversations with user groups about regional recreation and he believes those positive discussions made a difference in the dispute.

“We’re sort of leaning towards maybe having a consultant look at what the model should look like in terms of governance and contributions and assets that each community has to offer. Through that process, we will determine what everybody’s share should be rather than us having to push for it,” Hordyski remarked.

“I’m glad it is behind us and the user groups can now get registered. I talked to a couple of parents last night and they are pretty excited this is all behind us.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com