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Replacing arena ice plant questioned

Village council is budgeting for replacement of the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena’s ice plant in 2016.

Village council is budgeting for replacement of the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena’s ice plant in 2016 – a move that could save taxpayers more than $500,000 over the next 11 years.

At its regular meeting June 9, council agreed to replace the arena’s existing ammonia ice plant next year with one that uses a halocarbon such as Freon. The existing ammonia ice plant would likely last another 10 years with regular maintenance, but staff members told local elected officials last week that it makes good financial sense to replace the entire system now.

Dooseon Jung, Burns Lake’s director of recreation services, advised council in a memorandum dated June 2 that the arena’s existing chiller – a piece of equipment that removes heat from a liquid – is due for replacement in 2017 at a cost of up to $160,000. While this would allow the current ice plant to remain in operation until approximately 2025, she indicated that switching to a Freon ice plant at a cost of $450,000 (excluding taxes) would likely save the village money in the long run while reducing or eliminating a number of human resource issues.

Jung noted that because ammonia is a hazardous substance, the municipality is required to have certified staff on duty – even when the arena’s ice plant isn’t operating. Finding, training, and keeping employees certified in operation of the ammonia cooling system is difficult, she said, because the arena is open only a portion of each year.

“The biggest challenge for arena management is finding qualified staff and budgeting for wages,” she stated in her memorandum. “The current ammonia plant system requires (that) at least one seasonal attendant with a ticket be on site during operation hours, which includes the curling rink and Lakeside Multiplex. Additionally, this system requires that while the plant is on, a fifth class engineer must stay in the building at least three hours a day.”

According to Jung, training employees to run the arena’s existing ammonia ice plant has cost the village an average of $5000 in each of the past three years. Once trained, the facility’s unionized employees are eligible for wage increases of more than $7 per hour, but even that hasn’t been enough to keep them here.

“Due to the high turnover ratio of arena attendants, the arena foreman has been continuously searching for new employees and training them,” she explained. “Moreover, the village is paying for the training courses and exams for new employees to get the safety awareness tickets and the 5th class engineer tickets… Most the arena staff have acquired tickets and subsequently received a wage increase from $16.24/hour to $23.33/hour based on our union contract. Despite receiving training at the village’s expense and in turn benefitting from increases wages, arena employees have left the village because it is a seasonal operation.”

Because Freon is considered less hazardous a substance, ice plants that use it in the refrigeration process do not require constant supervision. Training costs are also lower; Jung said that according to officials in Vanderhoof, employees can operate that community’s Freon ice plant with only 30 minutes of training.

While the costs associated with operating ammonia and Freon ice plants are comparable, Jung said switching to a Freon plant could save the municipality as much as $60,000 in wages and training costs each year.

Despite the anticipated savings, paying to install a new plant next year won’t be easy. The $160,000 budgeted for chiller replacement in 2017 will fund a portion of the $450,000 expense, and municipal officials hope to find at least another $87,000 in grant funding. The remaining $203,000 will likely have to be borrowed.

While most councillors were supportive of the proposal, as least one – Susan Schienbein – asked if it had been discussed with the local minor hockey association and curling club. She indicated that when Vanderhoof switched to a Freon ice plant, it experienced some difficulties maintaining ice in the arena.

Arena foreman Charlie Bowerbank responded by saying he doesn’t expect the switch will cause issues here. The quality of ice in both the arena and curling rink, he said, shouldn’t be affected.

He added that Vanderhoof’s difficulties likely stemmed from the fact the Freon plant there lost its “charge” twice not long after being commissioned. “Hopefully, that isn’t going to happen here,” he said, adding the new plant here will have a sophisticated leak detection system.

This year, wage and benefit costs for the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena are expected to top $187,000.