Sundre's elected officials heard during last week's council meeting a proposal presented by administration to re-introduce an outdoor rink near the skatepark.
The former council had for several reasons decided in 2015 -- the last time the municipality prepared an outdoor ice surface -- not to continue with the project in 2016, and removed the expense from the budget, Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration, told the new council.
The decision was justified on the following grounds: the condition of the boards was in poor shape; maintaining the ice was a fairly labour intensive process for town staff; the poorly lit location behind the old site at the Sundre Arena was deemed inadequate; and in addition to all of that the rink was not used very much, said Pirie.
However, Ian James, Sundre's community services manager, said a number of volunteers and interested members of the community had informally requested the municipality consider reversing the last council's decision, and to bring back an outdoor rink.
So administration investigated potential options that would address the prior issues that led the past council to pull the plug on the outdoor rink, James said.
"We are looking at the most efficient way to operate an outdoor rink that would be portable ó something we can take down in a fairly quick manner."
The investigation yielded the discovery of a Calgary-based company that could make available such a system for a little more than $6,000, although there would also be additional operating costs.
But the community services department has also been attempting to encourage more public use of the indoor arena, said Pirie.
"If people now are not coming to public skating because now they have free access to an outdoor rink, we may see a negative impact on the arena's funding," he said.
However, public skate sessions are generally scheduled smack in the middle of the afternoon when most people are working. Additionally, there is a charge of about $5 just to skate, which for some people might be considered restrictive.
Meanwhile, there are municipalities that offer their arenas' ice surface free of charge during public skates.
As it should be.
Besides, considering the few available opportunities for public skates, forgoing the limited revenue they generate would not likely cause any substantial loss of funding.
Council often discusses ways to give back to Sundre residents, who already face a hefty tax burden, so perhaps free public skating at the arena could be worth considering.
Council also tends to discuss developing ideas to increase recreational opportunities for residents of all ages ó a free public skate session, perhaps even just a monthly one, would certainly fit in well with that vision.
ó Simon Ducatel is the Round Up's editor
