A conflict has been brewing over coffee at Sarnia's Strangway Community Centre.
Before the pandemic, a coffee service was run by volunteers, but it folded and city staff recently received a petition from about 20 patrons to provide coffee and tea for $1 on an honour system.
General Manager of Community Services Stacey Forfar told council on Monday that the service is not allocated in the operating budget and staff don't have the proper certifications to provide the beverages.
To meet the need, staff recommended purchasing two countertop dispenser units, amounting to $8,400 with a $500 monthly fee for a professional service to maintain them.
Councillor Brian White got steamed-up over the idea.
"I don't understand the difference between an $8,400 machine and a coffee pot that I can buy for $35 at Canadian Tire," White said.
He wondered why appliances couldn't be put out for patrons to use.
"There's definitely places in the community where people gather that can have a kettle, and a coffee pot, and make tea and coffee for each other. Are we really at the point where we can't do that anymore," White asked.
Forfar perked up to defend the recommendation after the idea was roasted.
"We have two staff in that building who, frankly, run off their feet," she said. "It is a very busy building. It has people in there all day long. We have frontline admin staff and we have frontline support staff, neither of which are there to serve coffee."
Forfar said there is no concern for patrons who want to bring their own drinks.
"Unfortunately, there has not been an appetite to bring that back by the volunteer groups," she added. "We have not seen that, we have asked, we have pushed feelers out. The solution we've proposed is to take a modern look at this. Look at what's going on at other retail establishments when you walk in to grab a coffee. There are simple machines there that make service for low cost, but it is not there for staff to be doing that. [Staff] are there to serve clients of that building in terms of programming."
Forfar said "the issue is accidents do happen and people can burn themselves."
"We have a kitchen there that is sometimes booked, so it will not be consistent in terms of service, and we have no service there that will be going in specifically to clean up after that," Forfar said.
The debate percolated for about 10 minutes, with some councillors encouraging patrons to visit a local coffee shop before visiting the centre.
Council ended up directing staff to prepare a more comprehensive report, exploring alternatives and legal advice.
Mayor Mike Bradley and Councillor George Vandenberg voted against the direction.