It could take up to a year for the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre to have a sustainable business plan, but in the meantime, the centre still has bills to pay.

'We are definitely in a bit of a quandary,' Wayne McLennan, who sits on the recreation centre's board, told city council at its Monday evening meeting.

The board is asking the city for $114,000 to pull it out of debt. However, the recommendation from city staff for council would see a sustainable business plan for the centre be received before it pays Mount McIntyre's suppliers directly.

'We have very pressing payables,' McLennan said.

The money for the debt would come from the city's contingency reserve.

Paying off the debt may not be where the city's funding ends, though, in helping the complex become sustainable. McLennan also suggested a business plan be done by a consultant.

'The reasoning is twofold,' he said. 'First of all, those of us on the board as well as management of the centre itself whenever you're closely involved with something, you tend to get those blinders on.'

The board would work closely with the consultant to develop the report, he said.

Outside council chambers, McLennan said because Mount McIntyre is city-owned, it's proposed the municipality pay for the consultant. Just how much that would cost is something the recreation centre's board hasn't looked at, he said.

The proposal would also have the city pay for half of the centre's utilities and insurance.

In presenting the administrative report to council last night, the city's director of administrative services, Rob Fendrick, pointed to the financial problems the facility has been having since 1999.

In 2003, the city provided $88,000 toward Mount McIntyre's debts, paying suppliers directly. That was approximately half of what the centre's board was looking for.

'The feeling was, Here's half of it, solve the other half from your own resources,' ' McLennan said.

Unfortunately, he continued, having the same facility with a small number of users meant the centre was unable to get out of debt.

The recreation centre serves as the base for the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, the Whitehorse Curling Club and a dart league. The ski chalet opened 25 years ago, while the curling facility was added on years later.

There's also meeting and convention centre space in the building, at Sumanik Drive off Hamilton Boulevard. In addition to the building, there's a network of ski trails around the area.

'It's time we need to do something different and we're quite willing to look at that,' McLennan said. 'We are looking at many different avenues.'

Mayor Ernie Bourassa asked whether the $114,000 the group was seeking was the full amount needed for the debts, and was informed that it is.

'So it's not half, there's not stuff hidden out there?' the mayor questioned.

McLennan replied, 'No. We're not going down that road again.'

The last request from Mount McIntyre came in November 2004, when the city was asked for $120,000 to clear up its debts.

Council opted to refer the request to the 2005 budget that was being developed at the time. The request was not approved as part of this year's budget.

Fendrick noted in the report that also in November, a task force made up of representatives from the city and Mount McIntyre was formed to develop a business plan for the centre for 2005.

Although the business plan hasn't been done, a final report from the task force and other documents asks for the $114,000, and to consider an additional annual grant that would cover half the utilities and insurance of the structure. That grant would cost an estimated $81,321 in 2006.

McLennan said while the board agrees a business plan should be done, it would be premature and somewhat hypothetical until there is some sort of formal agreement with new potential user groups, which the board sees as essential to the centre's future.

In answering a question posed by Coun. Dave Stockdale, McLennan said the size of the building is the major issue.

'It always has been, and until we can get more users in there, it always will be,' he said.

'The curling club and the ski club and the dart club simply cannot sustain a facility that size with their membership base, without increasing membership fees to a point where members will walk away.'

McLennan said the board would like to continue the work it's doing on negotiating with other user groups with the hopes of finalizing an agreement.

'It's going to take more work to get that business plan finalized, probably months,' Fendrick told council when asked for a time frame by Coun. Mel Stehelin.

April 2006 would be the 'drop dead date' for the business plan because that's when the lease will expire on the facility.

On April 30 of this year, though, the current lease agreement states 'the landlord and the tenant agree to negotiate a new lease in good faith.'

Coun. Doug Graham suggested if the money for the debt isn't available until possibly next year when a business plan is developed, 'there's absolutely no chance that any business in Whitehorse is going to extend credit.'

The report to council shows a list of 36 creditors with debts ranging from $6.96 for Sysco Foodservice Inc. to $21,551.98 for 33522 Yukon Inc.

Graham added he doesn't disagree with the recommendation. There's no point in handing out money year after year without changes being made, he added

'I just want to make sure that we get clear on what may happen to Mount (McIntyre),' he said. 'If they get cut off, it's going to be one of those freeze-in-the-dark kind of things.'

Doing a business plan will not get the bills paid though, Coun. Dave Austin pointed out.

'I understand the need for a business plan and I understand that we've asked for this thing before, but I don't know, quite frankly, if Mount (McIntyre) has the forces to deliver a business plan and that's certainly no reflection on Mount (McIntyre),' he said.

Fendrick then pointed to the recreation centre's proposal for a consultant to work on the plan.

'That doesn't get the bills paid,' Austin responded.

Already, there have been changes made to the centre in an effort to cut down on its costs, Bourassa said, commending the board for those efforts.

'I think we're on the right track,' he said. 'I think what council needs to see, though, is a formal, long-term plan of how the operations should be structured, what's the best plan for reducing a number of their expenses?'

Bourassa suggested the city continue its dialogue with the recreation centre. He said it may come down to council agreeing to pay off the debt and a that commitment be made for the business plan to be done within a certain time period.

'I'm certainly not interested in this dragging on for another year,' he said. 'That makes no sense whatsoever. Time is of the essence to get this thing resolved.'

The city and Mount McIntyre representatives will get together later this week to discuss possibilities, Bourassa said.

Prior to the administrative report being presented to council, Carl Rumscheidt, another Mount McIntyre representative, told members a good dialogue on the centre has begun between representatives there, and the city and groups using the facility.

Rumscheidt noted there's been a focus on cutting costs as much as possible.

'The life as a convention centre has proven a difficult one,' he said.

There have been cuts in staffing and other initiatives to bring the costs of the facility in-line with what it spends to operate, he added.

Council will vote on how to proceed with the matter next week.