A delay in opening the Sundre arena for the 2011-2012 hockey season is frustrating to Sundre players and parents, with about $20,000 in fees having to be spent to use the Caroline arena, Connie Anderson told councillors last week.
Speaking at the September 26 governance committee meeting, Anderson, the past president of Sundre Minor Hockey Association, said at least five Sundre players have joined leagues outside Sundre because ice is not ready here until October.
“We're losing too many kids to Caroline and other places,” said Anderson, noting one midget, and two bantam players have gone to Olds and Innisfail. “We've been dealing with this issue for years and it's frustrating for everyone.”
The installation of ice in the arena was delayed three days last week because of the warm weather, CAO Ryan Leuzinger told councillors.
Starting the plant earlier would have put too much stress on the facility's ice plant, he said.
The tentative opening date is now Oct. 14.
Sundre Minor Hockey has handed over between $18,000 and $20,000 in fees for rental at the Caroline arena, he said.
“Everybody else seems to be able to open earlier,” said Anderson.
Anderson said hopes to bring AA hockey to Sundre are being frustrated by the lack of a new arena in town.
Mayor Annette Clews said the arena situation is frustrating to residents and users alike.
“It is very frustrating because we know the user groups have the demand for it,” she said. “Unfortunately our system seems incapable of meeting that demand so we have to do something about the facility.”
Council will hopefully be able to move forward with some solution during budget deliberations, she said.
“It all depends on cost and how council decides to move forward,” she said. “Ryan (Leuzinger) is right now investigating cost factors.”
No decision has been made regarding upgrades or replacement of the arena, she said.
The existing Sundre arena was built and opened in 1972.
CAO Leuzinger recently presented council with a number of proposed options for the arena.
Councillors heard that extensive renovations of the facility could cost about $500,000. Those upgrades could include a new ice dehumidification system, a revamping of change rooms, and new rink pipes and cement.
The cost of a new facility could be about $9 million, councillors heard.
Eastside water connection policy considered
Councillors have examined a draft of a policy setting out the connection fee for water and wastewater on the east side of Sundre.
Policy #415 will outline requirements surrounding connection to the water and wastewater infrastructure provided north of Highway 27 and east of the Red Deer River.
Water and wastewater services will become available to the properties adjacent to the services installed in 7 Street N.E., in 1 Ave. N.E. from 7 Street N.E. to 11 Street N.E., in 9 Street N.E., and in 11 Street N.E. within the next two years.
The draft policy states, in part, that “a connection fee of $7,000 will apply to each property. This fee is reflective of the current costs associated with the services provided which includes administration, contingency, engineering and GST.
“The fee to connect to the water and wastewater infrastructure is subject to change to reflect the current economics of our community.”
The ‘connection parameters section' states that the town will not require the adjacent properties, outlined in this policy, to connect to the water and wastewater infrastructure immediately or within a specified time frame.
Councillors instructed administration to bring the policy before this week's council meeting for consideration.
Council agrees to letter of support
Councillors have agreed to send a letter of support to Mountain View County's quest for funding for the construction of a berm along the north side of the Red Deer River west of town.
The county recently sent a letter to the town asking for support of efforts to obtain $2,541,360 for construction of the flood prevention berm.
“As you are aware, from our discussions the river has moved north a significant distance into an old channel where it flowed 50 plus years ago,” Reeve Paddy Munro said in the letter to council.
“Mountain View County is concerned that in the event of another high water event the river will break out and threaten public and private infrastructure including the Sundre airport and the Coyote Creek Recreational Development.”
The county has already agreed to spend more than $200,000 to start construction of the berm.
The money will come from reserves to construct 270 metres of berm without armouring at a critical point where the land slopes towards Sundre and to selectively fill an area north of where a new channel broke out last June seven kilometres southwest of Sundre.
In the letter to council, Reeve Munro also said “we believe the province has a responsibility to mitigate as much as possible to protect expensive infrastructure, some of which the province has invested significant funds over the years, such as the Sundre airport.
“Failure to take pro-active measures of constructing the berm will potentially result in the province paying out higher sums of money for disaster recovery.”
