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Grey Highlands hall space rentals will have a COVID-19 cleaning charge in 2022

Rentals will come with a $165 additional charge, which is the minimum cost to bring in a third party cleaner
2020_08_19 Grey Highlands highway sign_JG
Jennifer Golletz/CollingwoodToday

Renting Grey Highlands community spaces will come with additional costs in 2022, due to enhanced cleaning requirements caused by COVID-19 public health measures.

Rentals will soon have an extra $165 charge tacked on to the bill, which is the minimum cost for the municipality to bring in a third party contractor to carry out enhanced cleanings.

“In the past, we used to wipe down the tables and fold them up and put them away if they were used for a meeting. Now it means cleaning every leg, everything, a complete, thorough cleaning and we just don't have the staff to do that,” said director of economic and community development Michele Harris in October 2021.

In 2021, the municipality discussed how to cover the costs of cleaning that arose from community groups granted free rentals for 2022, which were given through the municipality’s financial assistance program committee.

This year, the town approved 237 free rentals for community groups, said Krista House, manager of parks and recreation at a community development advisory committee meeting Jan. 17.

These rentals will come with a cleaning bill around $43,000, which will be covered through provincial funding.

“Those free rentals actually are being covered by some provincial grant money we currently have called COVID Safe Restart,” Harris said. “We don't know when that will end, but we do have it right now, so for 2022 those costs are being offset through the provincial funding.”

House said that the fee will be charged as long as enhanced public health measures are in place.

“This fee will not be charged to community groups who [have] free rentals through the community grant program, but … we still need to pay that cost,” she said. “This $165 is a specific COVID related cleaning fee that will be assessed as long as COVID cleaning is required.”

“If you're renting a hall for a wedding or for a family get together, there is going to be an extra $165 minimum assessed there … to make sure all of our halls are clean to public health standards.”

House suggested that groups who rent community space multiple times per week might double-up on their bookings to save on the cost of cleaning.

“If you have the same group of people who are meeting on a Monday night, and you have the same group of people who are meeting on a Tuesday, both in a municipal space, if both those meetings could happen maybe back to back on one evening we'd only have to do one clean instead of two,” she said.


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About the Author: Greg McGrath-Goudie, LJI Reporter

Greg McGrath-Goudie covers The Blue Mountains and Grey Highlands as part of the Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the Government of Canada
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