Although a final decision had as of last week not yet been made, Sundre's council discussed the possibility of bringing back an outdoor community rink that would be available to the public free of charge.
"We used to offer an outdoor rink," Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration, told council during the Nov. 6 meeting.
"After the 2015 season, going into 2016, the decision was made not to proceed with doing an outdoor rink," said Pirie.
The reasons for that were as follows: 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 Sundre Arena was deemed inadequate; and in addition to all of that the rink was not used very much, he said.
So rather than pouring an outdoor rink, the municipality decided to expand public skating hours so that residents who used it would instead have more opportunities to use the indoor arena, he said.
"In checking with community services, we have not received any formal complaints about not having an outdoor rink or any request to put back the outdoor rink," he said, adding informal conversations may have transpired.
Ian James, manager of community services, said the subject of an outdoor rink was an interesting one and that from administration's point of view, the municipality already has an indoor arena that is under-utilized during scheduled public skate sessions.
However, in discussing the matter with members of the community, James said, "What we're finding is that it's not necessarily available ice (at the arena). It's the culture of having an outdoor rink that's the point."
So administration investigated potential options that would address the prior issues that led the past council to pull the plug on the outdoor rink, he 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."
That effort led to conversations with Calgary company Rink Water, which specializes in outdoor rinks, he said.
"They have a nice system in place."
The distributor makes available easy-to-maintain, 18-inch high plastic boards that can be clipped together in a generic design as well as a box unit with hoses that provides heated water through the municipal supply. Overall, this system would be more efficient than before, he said.
Additionally, volunteers have come forward to offer assistance in maintaining the outdoor rink. A couple of companies ó Fortis Sundre and Mountain View Electric ó have also pledged to support the project by donating labour and supplies to provide outdoor lighting and power to the open green space beside the skateboard park, "which would enhance the opportunities for recreation tremendously within the town," he said.
The whole system would be available upon order at a cost about $6,300, of which $4,000 could be drawn from remaining funds available in the Sports for Life reserve. The balance of $2,300 could be allocated from the arena or outdoor recreation reserves. There would be an additional cost of about $3,000 for lighting, he said, welcoming further direction from council.
"We're looking for some feedback from council as to whether this is something they would like us to move forward with."
While there would be ongoing operational costs, Pirie said volunteer support would minimize those expenses.
Coun. Rob Wolfe inquired about the possibility of obtaining higher boards, but purchasing such a product would represent a much greater cost, said James, adding administration sought to present a reasonable expense.
Coun. Richard Warnock wanted to know whether the ongoing operational costs could be covered in the 2018 budget, and Pirie said overseeing the operation of the outdoor rink would be among the community services manager's responsibilities.
Coun. Cheri Funke expressed gratitude for administration's efforts in coordinating with volunteers.
"They're up to like nine or 10 volunteers ready to help. This is huge, this is really good," she said.
Coun. Paul Isaac seemed supportive of the proposed system, which he described as fairly self-sufficient.
"I don't really think we need to be very involved at all," he said.
Mayor Terry Leslie wondered what kind of timeline might be involved in deploying the outdoor rink, to which James said the system could, given the go ahead, be in place before the end of the month.
As a cautionary note, Pirie reminded council that volunteer enthusiasm sometimes fades and possibly disappears after a period of time, which would result in town staff taking on additional tasks.
"At this moment we anticipate great community support but it may not be there forever," he said.
Also, the community services department has been attempting to encourage more public use of the indoor arena, he said.
"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."
