By Tim Leeds
The Eagles auxiliary will remain barred from the club's kitchen and dining hall until at least September.
Claudia Viall, secretary of the auxiliary, said the majority of the auxiliary members present at a meeting Wednesday night voted to wait until September to make a decision about a proposal made by the Havre Eagles Aerie 166. It would require the auxiliary to pay a fee to use the kitchen and dining room at the club.
Tom Farnham, vice president of the aerie, mediated the meeting between the auxiliary and the aerie. He said the meeting went well.
"We're just inches away from an agreement," he added.
The auxiliary received a letter June 25 from the aerie stating the aerie's trustees decided the men would take over the kitchen and dining room and that the auxiliary must pay $2,400 in back rent. Farnham and Viall both said emotions have been high at the meetings between the two groups since then.
"Feelings are running too high. The women are really hurt about being kicked out of the kitchen," Viall said.
She added she hopes by September the situation will have cooled enough that the groups can think and speak rationally instead of emotionally, and some agreement can be made.
The latest proposal from the aerie on the table would charge a $60 fee to the organization that puts on the weekly Thursday night dinner. The men's and women's group would alternate in putting on the event. The aerie also will charge a fee for several other types of functions.
The aerie currently does not charge a fee to the auxiliary. It has maintained that the women's group instead owes it back rent. The women have said they have no money to pay rent.
Viall said the auxiliary has helped out the organization many times in the past, paying out more than $76,000 in the last 20 or so years for maintenance and improvement. She also said the women's group is considering negotiating a percentage fee to the aerie, rather than paying a flat $60 fee.
