Port Moody residents to stay at the front of the line for rec sign-ups

The head start is now permanent.

Port Moody residents will continue to have 48 hours of lead time to sign up for the city’s recreation programs, following a vote from council on Nov. 12. But while council’s vote was unanimous, a few councillors expressed mixed feelings about the program.

“I do feel kind of bad for Anmore and Belcarra,” said Coun. Kyla Knowles. “It’s not as if they’ve shut us out of anything or they have anything to horse-trade.”

However, Knowles noted Port Moody residents have run into trouble trying to sign up for recreation programs with similar locals-first policies in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby and New Westminster.

While some non-residents were frustrated by the change, the response from Port Moody’s residents was “overwhelmingly positive,” according to a city staff report.

With the enrolment advantage in place, Port Moody residents comprised 66 percent of all registrants in the city’s summer programs – up from 56 percent the year before. The city recorded a similar bump in local registrants for fall programs.

One of the biggest changes was in the area of summer recreation programs for children, where the rate of Port Moody residents rose from 59 to 73 percent.

While Coun. Callan Morrison was generally enthusiastic about the change, he suggested council review the program in the event, “one of the other municipalities, perhaps PoCo or Coquitlam, choose to relax their resident-first policy.”

A city staff report noted that, as a small city, Port Moody relies on “non-resident registrations” to ensure the sustainability of rec programs.

Port Moody experimented with giving residents the head start earlier this year. The most recent vote made the pilot project permanent.

Drop-in programs are set to remain on a first-come first-served basis.