Township council directed staff to explore the idea of giving ownership of the Moorefield Optimist Hall to the village’s Optimist Club.
The Optimists use the municipally-owned facility on Ball Avenue as a headquarters.
In recent years, the club has made some improvements to the hall and added boards around an outdoor ice rink for community use on the property beside the hall.
Councillor Michael Martin put a notice of motion before council at the Aug. 16 meeting recommending the township “direct staff to engage in a discussion with the Moorefield Optimist Club regarding the ownership of the Moorefield Optimist Hall; and further, that staff explore the opportunity to gift the Hall to the Moorefield Optimist Club.”
“The genesis of this came from just the idea that perhaps it’s not an asset that the township actually utilizes all that much anymore,” said Martin.
“If, down the road, the Optimist Club just all of a sudden folded up, would we be able to get that back?” asked councillor Dennis Craven.
“That would be part of the agreement we put in place,” said CAO Manny Baron. “That’s a little further down the road. First we have to see if there’s an appetite to do this,” he added.
Martin noted the change in ownership would allow the club to do work on the building themselves “outside of township procurement policies.”
In 2015, the township initially declined to reimburse the club $3,600 for work done by club members on a peak roof addition to the hall because it was done without a building permit or prior township approval.
Council later agreed to cover the bill after the work was inspected and a building permit issued.
