Monday evening's council meeting seems to be a step in the right direction for the Whitehorse Curling Club in its bid for an affordable lease agreement with the city, says the club's president.

"I think we made some headway,” Mark Evans said in an interview outside council chambers last night.

He spoke following discussion among council members about the proposed 10-year lease of the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre.

The property, owned by the city, is a shared space by the curling club. The club operates the curling rink and lounge, the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club runs the wax room and trail system outside the building and the city operates the Grey Mountain Room.

At last night's meeting, new 10-year lease agreements were brought forward for the two clubs to replace the last agreement, which technically ended last July.

Both clubs have been operating on a month-to-month agreement with the city since.

Before the proposal was presented by Pat Ross, the city's land development supervisor, the curling club made it clear it will not sign the document.

"Unfortunately, this is not affordable. It will break the club,” Evans said. He was referring to the 113-per-cent increase the club would have absorbed by the time the proposed lease ended.

The curling club wouldn't have a problem with a jump of three per cent annually to account for inflation, Evans said.

However, the increase as proposed, which would be passed on to members, would likely erode the membership, Evans argued. That would mean less revenue coming into the club, which would then be unable to pay the rent.

The hike would see the club's rent rise each year from $30,000 in year one to $35,360 in year two, then $40,720 for year three, and up to $46,080 in year four.

The rent would climb to $51,440 in year five, $56,800 in year six, $58,504 in year seven, $60,259 in year eight, $62,067 in year nine and finally $63,929.

By comparison, under its proposed lease, the ski club would see its rent rise gradually, from $27,790 in year one to $36,260 in the final 10th year of its lease.

While Ross explained the steep hike comes from council's aim of a cost recovery of 50 per cent on the building, the curling club said it simply couldn't handle such a hike.

Evans noted the 2011/2012 curling season ended in deficit, even with club expenses down five per cent, with factors including a decline in bar sales.

A recreation grant the club recently applied for from the city has been declined, he also pointed out.

Evans took issue with the proposed 10-year term as well. It's hard to forecast what position the curling club will be in a decade from now, he told council.

Past agreements have been for five-year terms.

Another issue with the lease, he said, is the two-week time period for free rental the city is looking to get from the club.

At the same time, the city has steered away from offering the 40-hour free rental the club had from the city for the Grey Mountain Room in its last lease.

While Evans focused his presentation on the club's finances and lease, Matt Bustin, the group's business manager, was quick to state what the club provides to the community through both its programs and the events it's hosted.

Large-scale events in recent years have provided both the economic stimulus for the city of many people in town spending money at local businesses and positive national exposure for the community.

Locally, he noted curling is a sport anyone can take part in, especially with initiatives like the wheelchair curling program which began this past season.

"The sport is very accessible,” he said, noting the strong social component it offers the club's 320 members ranging in age from five to 80.

As a parent of a young curler and a board member of the Yukon Curling Association, Lauren Muir spoke of her personal experience watching her son find a sense of community not only with the club, but also with his team.

Travelling to B.C. recently to meet other young curlers from around the world, Muir said the development of the kids has been incredible.

At the club, she added, the youth learn about social interactions, good manners, team play and having fun in a positive way.

They also take part in the fund-raising initiatives to travel Outside for competitions and put in their own volunteer hours.

Raising the club's cost by 113 per cent over 10 years could make it difficult to get kids involved with the sport, Muir pointed out.

The Whitehorse Curling Club has made positive social, economic and health impacts on the entire community, Muir addeed.

She too requested council instruct its staff to renegotiate the lease.

Coun. Betty Irwin was the first council member to speak up on the matter, taking issue with such a large increase in rent.

"I really have a problem,” she said, after pointing out the Great Northern Ski Society pays only $1 per year on its lease with the city for Mount Sima.

Noting the "great respect” she has for the curling club and its role in the community, Irwin said she doesn't think the group was treated well during this round of lease negotiations.

Others wondered whether city staff had factored into the cost recovery the assistance the club provides the city in having staff on hand at the building full-time.

Without that, city staff heard, it would likely have to pay someone to be there.

As some suggested, that in-kind help should be given some financial value in arriving at the 50-per-cent recovery rate. Adding in that financial value would help bring the lease rate down while still working to achieve the recovery goal.

Irwin argued she had been led to believe the 50-per-cent recovery was a goal to work towards which may not always be possible, rather than a rate that would be set in stone.

Coun. Dave Austin, meanwhile, took issue with what he viewed as council "back-pedalling.”

As he pointed out, it was council who gave city staff direction to get to that 50-per-cent figure.

Now, when they come back with those numbers, members don't like the situation, he said.

Coun. Kirk Cameron didn't see it as such. He argued the equation should have included the in-kind portion the club provides to the city in the form of staff on hand.

"It's not back-pedalling,” he said.

Along with including the in-kind value of staff, Coun. Florence Roberts suggested the city needs to factor in the trail network for the ski club when divvying up the lease rates among the groups, with part of the equation being based on how much space each is using.

Outside council chambers, Evans said he was pleased with the discussion among councillors (Mayor Bev Buckway was absent), and is willing to head back to the table with city officials.

It's encouraging that council members seem to understand the budget pressures the club is under, he said.

Officials with the ski club could not be reached for comment this morning.