A petition filed July 31 asking council to repeal a number of parking initiatives was declared sufficient by the town manager. The petition seeks to end the user pay parking trial and the use of license plate recognition technology for both parking enforcement and data collection. Of the 1,473 names on the petition, 1,071 were declared valid. There were 402 names rejected for a variety of reasons, including duplicate names, ineligible electors or names that had failed to include a street address or the street address included was incorrect. Council voted to arrange another special meeting on Monday, September 15 at 9 a.m. to consider options and to receive public input. Council also made a motion asking for a report on the costs associated with stopping the user pay parking trial and the use of license plate recognition technology earlier than planned. Council made a number of motions responding to the Banff Hockey Academy’s (BHA) request for financial assistance. The BHA is currently in arrears in the amount of $116,299.63 for both facility and ice rental at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre and had requested assistance in rectifying the situation. Council voted to: 1) Enter into an agreement with the BHA requiring them to pay back the arrears over 60 months with a preferential interest rate of 3% 2) Include as a condition of the agreement the requirement of the BHA to pay an initial lump sum payment of 10% of arrears 3) Forgive a $7,500 debt for the rental of ice the week of August 11-15, 2014 when no ice was used 4) Discount all non-prime ice for the BHA by 50% for the 2014/2015 season 5) Extend the term of the leasehold improvements from 60 months to 84 months, reducing the payment from $1,758.33 per month to $830.08 per month 6) Include in the agreement that should the BHA be sold, the Town of Banff debt, excluding leasehold improvements, be paid first 7) Have administration report in late February 2015 on the progress that has been made by the BHA in paying down the arrears The BHA is the largest facility user at the Fenlands, using approximately 750 hours of ice per year, 225 hours of which are non-prime daytime use.