A request for sun shading at the Klahani Park pickleball courts exposed a gap in municipal policy regarding advertising on city property.
At its March 28 meeting, city council received a recommendation from the Shuswap Recreation Society to allow the Salmon Arm Pickleball Club to place a storage locker and sun shading at the Klahani courts for the upcoming season. In addition, the rec society asked that advertising be permitted on the sun shading.
In a letter to council, Shuswap Recreation Society general manager Darby Boyd explained the storage locker is wanted for equipment for maintenance and play. The club will be responsible for the cost, safety and security of the unit.
The sun shade, said Boyd, is to be installed on the existing chain link fencing to provide additional protection for players using the courts. Boyd noted the club arranged for funding of the sunshade, as well as an automated external defibrillator, from SASCU, and has asked for permission to install the shading with the SASCU logo.
Coun. Debbie Cannon, who sits on the rec society board, said it wasn’t known how big the shading or the logo would be, and that it would be good to have the dimensions.
While supportive of both the placement of the storage locker and shading, the advertising was a sticking point for Coun. Chad Eliason.
“Now if it’s 70 feet long and it’s a SASCU logo, that’s pretty big naming rights that the city gets no real benefit from directly and that’s our property that somebody is selling the naming rights and the advertising to,” said Eliason. “So my question is, what is our policy on this and does it have to go through that?”
In response, city chief administrative officer Erin Jackson said the city does not have a policy that applies to this particular circumstance, and recommended the city adopt one in the future.
It was suggested the recommendation to council be amended, making approval subject to any advertising being approved by council with respect to size and design.
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Recognizing the policy gap around advertising placement, council was supportive of the amended recommendation.
Mayor Alan Harrison encouraged council to go to the Salmon Arm Tennis Club, where there’s sun shading along fencing with sponsorship for Head rackets.
“It’s pretty big sponsorship… along that sun shade and I’m not sure that’s what we want the sun shade at Klahani to look like,” said Harrison. “If you’re going to apply for a grant, going to apply for funding from somebody, you have to make sure the design size and logo piece either fits our policy or goes through council.”
Eliason said he’d like the message to get back to the pickleball club, that “we built the pickleball courts and we paid for them and we do all of the things, so if there’s revenue to be made off of advertising, that should go to the city and to the taxpayers.”
lachlan@saobserver.net
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