A New Year’s Eve fundraiser organized by the Wellesley and District Optimist Club that ended up losing money got some relief this week from township council, which agreed to waive most of the $394 rental fee for the Wellesley Community Centre on a one-time-only basis.

The party put on by the Wellesley College Club, an Optimist affiliate for fellow youth, failed to draw enough visitors, Optimist president Wayne Kneisel told Wellesley councillors meeting on Tuesday. The event was organized as a fundraiser for a proposed youth drop-in centre.

Kneisel attributed the club’s losses to the weather on New Year’s Eve, as well as a free house party that was easier on the wallets of those who originally planned to attend the Optimists event that had a $10 cover fee.

“There was poor weather that night and I think it shows that the economy is pretty weak. A last-minute house party was also the issue. Many of our youth have recently been laid off, I think money is a concern and basically the party was free and our event was not,” he explained.

The Optimists lost approximately $1,200 on the hall rental, costs for food and drinks, and security that night. This would eat into the budget for future events planned for Wellesley’s youth, Kneisel argued, as any profits from the event would have been recycled into the community.

“There is a need for a drop-in centre, especially with the amount of kids in Wellesley. There are a lot of kids that are going to be teenagers in the next three or four years; I think it would be good to have a facility like that in Wellesley to give the kids some more things to do and get them engaged in different activities in town.”

Councillors were concerned waiving the fee would invite similar requests from other organizations when events don’t go as planned.

“My concern with this is that we are opening ourselves up for if Linwood’s New Year’s Eve party doesn’t go [well], if the St. Clement’s Valentine’s Day doesn’t work, how many more times are we going to do this in good faith? And assuming we do that, do we do it once for every service group out there?” asked Coun. Shelley Wagner.

Kneisel agreed a suggestion from Coun. Herb Heher to pay a smaller fee of $50 to cover the rental hall’s hydro costs would be reasonable.

“We have to be really careful because when we rent out these arenas, we are booking them and we have a possibility of taking money away by not allowing anybody else to book. I would go along with it this time as an exception – we have to think about the fact that all of this money goes back into the community,” Neher said.

The College Club left the facility in good condition, said director of facilities Brad Voisin, noting a reduced fee was reasonable.

“They cleaned up very, very well. My janitorial staff went in and just touched up … they used very little paper towels and soap and stuff, very minimal. Fifty dollars I think would be fair.”