A newly created seniors centre will have to find other ways of paying the rent after City council decided not to reconsider a previous rejection of a $50,000 funding request.

The Centre for Seniors Information opened in the Brock Shopping Centre in February and has 400 members already.

CSI representative Alan Robertson told council Tuesday that centre organizers had approached City council in 2006 and again in 2010 about getting support for a location.

It applied through the City's service agreement committee for funds this year. The committee recommended to council that the application be turned down because of a lack of a business plan and other factors.

Council did reject the request a few years ago.

Robertson made an appeal to have it overturned.

The group maintains an information centre in the Northills Shopping Centre. It opened an activity centre in the Brock Shopping Centre in February that was renovated with the help of senior volunteers and Thompson Rivers University trades students.

It's averaging 40 to 50 drop-ins a day and adult learning sessions are held that attract 15 to 30 people per class.

The centre is looking to rent out some of its space and find other partners to help with the costs. It's also looking for firm funding sources and Robertson said there are plans to approach some foundations.

But the centre needs $50,000 to get through its first year and get on its feet, he said.

Mayor Peter Milobar told him he had a problem with a centre opening up without funding already in place.

"We have had a number of foundations that have shown interest. Some have indicated they are happy to come back again, but they're doing their one-year initial funding and it'll be another year before they come up with more funding," Robertson told him.

Coun. Pat Wallace said she expected he'd be back again next year as he hadn't identified any funding source.

Robertson said the group could look at raising membership fees, which are only $10 a year right now.

Coun. Nelly Dever put forward a motion to ask the group to provide more information, along with financial plans and partners for the next 24 months to reconsider the application.

Then Coun. Tina Lange moved an amendment to send the organization back to the City's service agreement committee.

The amendment was defeated.

Then Dever's motion was also defeated.

Wallace said council didn't have $50,000 available to hand out.

"There isn't any money to give them. I don't know where we'd get any money and I hate going over the committee's head," she said.

"They are worthy. It's a wonderful facility. But we don't have any money."

Voting in favour of the motion were Dever and councillors Marg Spina, Donovan Cavers and Arjun Singh.

Opposed were Wallace, Lange, Milobar and councillors Ken Christian and Nancy Bepple.