In speaking on the matter, Councillor Sherry Martell, council member to the board, along with Mayor Christine Blair, said the request is for a loan. In her explanation, Martell indicated the county and town really have no choice, because until the bill is paid to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for $1.29-Million funding granted to the society during CoVid19 emergency funding, the RECC will be prohibited from accessing additional federal government for capital repairs or applying for other grants for events as they occur.

During its 12 years in operation RECC has been able to access funding for several major events including World’s Junior Hockey and large curling bonspiels. Martell added without such event funding, or capital repairs RECC would not be able to contribute to local economic growth and condition of the facility would falter over time.

As bad as the situation is one saving grace is Colchester and Truro do not have to go searching for $1.629-Million. Since RECC opened almost 12 years ago, the municipalities, who own the facility have been creating a RECC capital reserve fund. Each municipality has a separate Special Reserve Fund for other municipality unbudgeted expense or emergencies. Major Blair when asked about the matter stated Colchester has been contributing $200,000 annually to a RECC Capital Reserve Account. She didn’t know the exact balance as of January 2025, but it is believed to be in vicinity of $900,00, which would cover Colchester’s half ($850,000) of the $1.629-Million loan request, if the capital reserve fund could be used for this purpose.

To get precise data from the county and town, CAO’s Dan Troke, Colchester and Mike Dolter, Truro were in meetings and unavailable for comment when this story was being written. The next day both returned calls. Troke and Dolter are non-voting members to the volunteer RECC society board.

Entire transcripts of Troke’s information memo to Colchester council and copy of the Volunteer Board’s letter to CAO’s Troke and Dolter are printed adjacent to this article. The information memo stated in 2024 a CRA auditor determined the RECC facility was not eligible for the funding. The society has appealed the decision, but it will take some time. Meanwhile CRA is applying interest to the outstanding amount.

The loan request will be on the agenda at the monthly meeting on Thursday, January 30^th starting at 6:00 pm

In addition, the Shoreline Journal spoke to Scott Fraser, Colchester’s Director Community Services to get accurate financial data. Fraser confirmed the balance of the RECC Capital Reserve Fund, as of March 31, 2024, the balance was $909,000. He indicated if the loan request was approved by council at its monthly meeting on January 30^th, in all probability, the capital reserve would not be used for the loan proceeds.

From an accounting perspective, he felt it would be appropriate to get the approximately $850,000 (Colchester’s 50% of loan request) from the county’s Special Reserve Fund (SRF), which has a balance of $9.1-Million and is more appropriate for this type of circumstance. The SRF exists for the municipality to handle unbudgeted expenses and emergencies.

Fraser confirmed the loan request was not a surprise, because the RECC’s audited statements (year ending March 31, 2024) had recognized the obligation. In a later conversation with Truro’s CAO Mike Dolter, it was learned Truro has both reserve accounts, but Truro’s balances are not as large as Colchester’s.

In the conversation with Dolter, he said the loan request will be on the agenda for monthly meeting of the Committee of the Whole (COW) later this month and then to full council public meeting on Monday, February 3^rd at 1:00 pm. He also confirmed it is his understanding from the society’s letter the CRA claimed repayment, accumulated interest and unbudgeted legal and accounting expenses totalled $1,629,846.

In terms of refund, $183K in HST refunds have been withheld by CRA and have been applied to the account. If Colchester and Truro approve the loan request of $1,629,846, by clearing the debt, it will put the RECC board in a position to receive back and additional HST returns and also apply for other capital or event grants when major events are being sourced.