| Last night, we told you about the business dispute between the Orange Walk Town Council and the National Sports Council over use of the People's Stadium. It's the place where the Town Council has hosted their Annual Fiestarama event for a number of years, but the National Sports Council was attempting to deny them access because they didn't pay their rental bills for last year's use.
Both sides agree that the Town Council owed the National Sports Council for the People's Stadium use from last year. But, they couldn't agree on the total figure. On one hand, the Orange Walk Town Council disputed the total charges that the Sports Council calculated as their bill. On the other, there was the Sports Council which maintains that the charges are easily justifiable, and that Mayor Kevin Bernard broke his contractual obligations to pay last year's bill.
The Sports Council was prepared to rent the facility to the town board again for this weekend's Fiestarama, but first, they wanted what was owed to them, plus the upfront cost of this year's rental of $5,000.
The Town Council cried foul, asserting that Sport Council Director Ian Jones was being unreasonable and excessive with that $5,000 rental fee.
But, Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber intervened and invited both sides to a meeting today at the Marion Jones conference room, where they could iron out their differences, and negotiate a favorable way forward.
That was a success, and the Mayor emerged quite pleased to announce that Fiestarama will take place this weekend at the People's Stadium, as was the plan all along. Here's our conversation with him on the positive development:
So, while that is Mayor Bernard's take away from today's meeting, National Sports Council Director Ian Jones had a slightly different account. He reiterated that the Town Council has paid its outstanding bills, and the breakdown of their rental fees is such that the National Sports Council still gets what it is due. Here are his comments to us this evening:
So, once again, the Fiestarama will take place this Saturday and Sunday at the People's Stadium. The Mayor assures us that full payment of the $2,000 operational cost, and the $2,000 security deposit will be made tomorrow.
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