Arena roof takes one step closer to reality - Alternate approval process gets underway

Rossland Arena - Andrew Zwicker photo

At a special 5:00pm meeting of city council this past Monday night, the arena roof replacement issue was back on the table, this time with the intent of moving the project forward to the next step of undergoing an alternate approval process to borrow the money needed for the project.

Having originally decided not to move forward with a $400,000 federal grant from Western Economic Diversification for the replacement/repair of the arena roof, the Mayor recalled the motion in early December after a strong response from residents. Following the recall, council reversed its original decision and decided to proceed with tendering the project to get a better idea of the costs, time frames and any issues involved in the project to see whether or not the project is feasible. Council has also now decided to move forward with the alternate approval process to gather public opinion on whether or not Rosslanders want the city to borrow up to $1 million for the project.

“I think we heard from a lot of citizens and your (Telegraph) poll certainly helped us on that,” explained Mayor Granstrom. “We heard from the citizens saying that the arena was important and certainly if you drive by there on the weekend it’s unbelievable the amount of people using it. If we want this facility to be there for our kids and grandkids than we have to put a roof on it, so I think it’s all good.”

The alternate approval process is not one commonly used in Rossland, so as part of the process City Hall will be distributing information packages to residents (which will also be available for pickup at City Hall) explaining the process.

Council wants to make it clear that the Alternate Approval Process is not a petition against or for the project but rather is designed to provide information on the project and the proposed source of financing through borrowing and gather citizens approval for the method of borrowing and not whether or not to go ahead with the project.

The scope of the project to be borrowed for is as follows:

1.  Replacement and structural upgrade to the Curling and Arena Roof assemblies to include

• 20 year TPO Thermoplastic Roofing Membrane
• 3” rigid insulation Ice & weather shield
• Deck sheathing
• Flashing and drip edges

     2.     HVAC replacements & upgrades

•  New mechanical systems for the lounge, concession and change rooms with capacity for expansion

    3.      Electrical
 

• Exit lighting
• Emergency lighting
• Fire alarm system
• Service panel at entry for future expansion/remodel
   

     4.     Structural

• Structural rehabilitation, repair & preventative maintenance in arena

The total estimated cost of the project is not to exceed $1.2 million. As part of that $1.2 million the city hopes to re-receive the originally turned down $400,000 grant from WED in addition to the $300,000 contribution from the arena roof reserve available as part of the regional recreation breakdown. That leaves the city’s contribution from borrowing at $500,000 or less.

Under the AAP the city is asking residents if they oppose the method of financing the project through borrowing. The proposed method is to borrow $1 million spread over 15 years. Under a worst case scenario the property tax increase on a $260,000 assessed value home would be approximately $56 annually. However, the WED grant as well as roof reserve funding will also be used to pay the debt. Factoring those financial contributions in under the worst case scenario, property taxes would only increase vy approximately $20. Taxpayer's rates may not necessarily go up under either scenario, however: as part of the borrowing process the city must declare the cost of the financing.

Alternatively to borrowing over 15 years, council could charge for the entire project through property taxes now. Under that scenario the estimated cost to the residential taxpayer would be in the range of $344 per $260,000 of residential assessment. Council also has the option to borrow over five years which would not require the consent of electors. In that scenario the cost per $260,000 assessment would be around $90 per year.

Under the Alternate Approval Process, a resident does not sign or do anything if they approve of the borrowing method. On the contrary, if they oppose the city borrowing over 15 years there will be a form available at City Hall to be signed. This document will be available 35 days after official notice has gone out from the city. Signing this form is not a method of defeating the project, but rather of voicing your disagreement with the proposed borrowing method.

The intent of the AAP is to seek a negative response from 10% of voters towards the term of the borrowing and financing only. To determine this number, council voted to use the recent 2008 voters' list of 2468 electors, necessitating 247 eligible voters to sign the form against the term of the financing.

Residents will have until March 4th to sign the form if they so wish. This date raises issues, however, as one of the conditions of the WED grant is that all money must be spent by March 31st. Whether or not the project could be completed during the winter months prior to March 31st was one of the principle concerns of councillors in originally turning down the grant.

“We have to wait until past the March 4th before we can begin the project and of course there is that March 31st deadline so we have to discuss with the federal government how they will handle that,” explained Rossland CAO Victor Kumar. “The point here is common sense. This is winter. I’m sure something will be worked out, but I don’t want to make any firm statement to that fact. I’m sure something can be worked out between the city and the Feds on extending the deadline or something to that effect.”

Whether or not the city is still able to get the $400,000 grant is not a sure thing either. Following council’s November decision to not move forward with the grant, they communicated that to WED who then reassigned the money. The bidding for that grant is now closed, so Rossland will be re-submitting the original bid with more information included and hopes to still have access to that money.

“Nothing is guaranteed though,” added Kumar. “It looks good, but it’s hard to say exactly where the position will fall at the end of the day. At one time we had it, we told them we didn’t want it and now we want it again.”

While not a done deal, the process towards upgrading and maintaining Rossland’s arena has now taken the next step forward toward that goal.

“I have to re-iterate that this is just the first step,” noted Mayor Granstrom. “What we’ve done is put it out there to say, 'okay, we’re going to go ahead with the first step to get this done and see where the chips fall and see if we can get it done'. I think it’s a pretty positive way to go at it.”