City of Hamilton to cover park rental fees, insurance for Easter egg hunts

The City of Hamilton will pay about $6,500 in insurance costs and park rental fees for about a dozen community groups that are planning Easter egg hunts next week.

The majority of council was swayed Wednesday night by arguments that the hunts are harmless and organized by volunteer groups who can’t afford to hold them otherwise.

Glanbrook Coun. Brenda Johnson says one group of volunteers in her area was going to have to pay $500 for insurance, which would have added more than 30 per cent to their event budget of $1,500, and that the group simply could not do it.

Johnson adds that many such events run around three hours long and that most of that time is spent setting up beforehand and cleaning up after the hunt is over.

It’s the first time that the city has waived the fees in a blanket motion rather than handling the requests on a case-by-case basis.

Ward 4’s Sam Merulla, one of three councillors to vote against the waiving of fees, doesn’t think it’s good policy and worries about setting a precedent by “opening up the floodgates to this type of request.”

With Easter weekend just one week away, however, Stoney Creek Coun. Maria Pearson says she’s in favour of a decision that gives the user groups “some peace of mind that they can go ahead and not have any worries.”