There will be no security guard at Talbot Gardens for the foreseeable future.
Tuesday night at council, our elected officials were presented with a staff report asking to extend hours of security at the arena.
Over the few months that the security guard was present, staff say they responded to only five minor incidents but believe their presence was the reason why the number was so low.
Councill Adam Veri was first out of the gate to push back against the idea.
Veri believes that whatever user group is using the ice at the time, if security is needed, it should be added to their bill.
Mayor Amy Martin also had concerns about spending tax payer money on an expensive security firm.
She suggested, since having someone present was a big deterrent, why not have a hockey club members or service club members rotate hours with money staying local and supporting groups.
Staff noted that security guards are specially trained, but Martin believes that isn’t needed for most of the situations at Talbot.
Despite the voices against the idea, Councillor Alan Duthie put forward the motion to support having a security guard present.
He initially brought up the idea of the security guard based off of concerns from community members, and said there are concerns about what would happen if the security guard goes away.
Ultimately, council votes against the idea but did agree to revisit it with multiple options during budget talks in January.
The next item on the agenda, as it happens, was a proposal from staff to hire security for the County Administration Building.
Mayor Martin did agree that there was some merit to this, noting there are frequent issues and that the presence of police does not seem to be keeping people away, as they just return when the police leave.
But councillor Chris Van Paassen, who was in favour of a security guard at Talbot, put a stop to this idea.
In the end, council voted to receive it as information only.