WINDSOR, N.S. — Windsor town council has deferred submitting its Long Pond Heritage Arena business case to the federal and provincial governments for approval until after they have another chance to discuss it.
But they will need to have that discussion soon as the application deadline is Aug. 7.
Council held an 8 a.m. meeting Aug. 3 to receive an update on the project’s proposed financial cost and to pass three motions. The council chambers were almost full, as several residents, rink supporters, and West Hant councillors filled the seats.
After the Municipality of West Hants announced it may retract its $1 million contribution to the project, Windsor councillors hesitated on pulling the trigger and approving the project.
Chief administrative officer Louis Coutinho provided a financial overview of the project and presented three recommendations to council. They were as follows:
• That council approve the submission of the Long Pond Heritage Arena business case to the federal and provincial governments for approval under the Small Communities Fund.
• That council approve by separate motion that it will fully guarantee its $6.5 million share of the cost of the Long Pond Heritage Arena, which includes eligible expenses on the project provided West Hants council does not renege on its $1 million commitment.
• That council authorize the CAO to ensure that third party fundraisers and the community who are raising funds for the Long Pond Heritage Arena have the necessary authority, insurance and security clearances to collect funds on the town’s behalf.
Plus, it was further recommended that the project cost overruns or shortfalls will be borne by the Town of Windsor.
The amount Windsor is being asked to backstop is $6.5 million, however, Coutinho said an additional $434,610 in ineligible expenses will also be paid for by the town. That cost includes the land purchase from King’s-Edgehill School.
Of the $6.5 million in eligible expenses, $1 million comes from the Town of Windsor, $1 million from West Hants, and the remainder is to come from fundraising efforts.
Coutinho told council that should fundraising efforts fall short, or the project can’t be scaled back to accommodate the amount raised, council has options to fund the outstanding balance. He said they could draw from reserves, increase user fees at the arena, or increase taxes.
Council has questions
Deputy Mayor Laurie Murley said while she supports the project, she can’t get behind increasing the tax rate to fund the arena.
“The issue I would have is taking it from the taxes — increasing taxes. Right from the start, we said that we would not do that,” said Deputy Mayor Laurie Murley.
She asked how confident the fundraising team would be if West Hants did pull its funding and another million was required.
“We have a very dynamic group of individuals, we have a very exciting project. The fact that it’s at Long Pond makes it easier to get money from outside the community,” said Jeff Redden, the fundraising chairman. The group already has collected about a million dollars in pledges.
“When we went from our $2.4 million goal to the current one, we had a long discussion and we still felt confident. I can’t sit here and tell you we could do another million,” said Redden.
“The toughest million to get in is the last million in any campaign so we’re going to be challenged to get that last million in.”
Murley wanted to know that if they approved the motions, could they halt the project if the costs escalated to an unreasonable level.
“That would be a travesty if we did that. Now is the time to make that decision,” said the CAO.
“If we go down the road of doing a tender and it comes in too high and we decide we want to pack it in, if you do pack it in, what you’ve done is you’ve now hurt other projects because that money is basically shelved,” said Coutinho, indicating the provincial and federal governments have already earmarked the money for this item.
He said throughout the meeting that he felt they could manage the risk associated with the build, and noted that they can always modify the building once they get to that stage.
Coun. John Bregante indicated he was in favour of moving forward with the project, and noted that since he moved to town in November 1999, this is the third attempt at building a new arena in Windsor.
“This is the closest we’ve come to this decision,” said Bregante.
“I’m really disappointed that at this late hour in this discussion that our neighbours in West Hants are going to be discussing the possibility of them pulling their $1 million. That doesn’t sit good with me. I’m really frustrated on that whole idea of them now trying to control our destiny,” he added.
While he said he has some concerns, he said he has faith in the fundraising team and citizens involved in seeing the project move forward.
Coun. Shelley Bibby said she has confidence in both the vision and the fundraising team, however, she’s concerned about the bigger picture, which is the ability to work with West Hants.
“This is the first time that we’ve come so close to consolidation, amalgamation and I’m not willing to risk that because that is a longer term benefit to the community,” she said, noting they don’t want to “push something through and not look at all the facts and figures and not be responsible for our taxpayers.”
Coun. Jim Ivey has been crunching the numbers on the project since before he was elected to council. He has continually expressed concerns, and on Aug. 3, it was no different. He questioned how much the town residents could be on the hook for should council proceed with the current Long Pond Heritage Arena vision.
Ivey said the contingency fund for the project is at 10 per cent when most projects at a Class D stage should have 25 to 30 per cent contingency. When he doubled the contingency, Ivey said he had the starting cost of the facility being $13.8 million, not the $12.5 million.
With the trade war with the United States and increased prices for construction materials, such as metal, Ivey said the costs could escalate .
With regards to fundraising efforts, Ivey praised the team who have been gathering pledges but asked how much is actually in hand.
“I don’t have anything in the bank but I have pledges,” said the CAO, indicating they had to wait until they had CRA guidelines in place. They now have the forms and can begin collecting the pledges in earnest.
Community input necessary
Aside from the financial questions, Ivey was concerned about the public having a say in the project.
“For a community initiative like this, we’ve actually kept the taxpayers out of it. I know we’re going to disagree on how we’ve done that but the fact is… we haven’t had a public consultation with the taxpayers on this project. We promised it,” he said.
There have been a few public meetings on the subject during the last four years, however, no formal public input sessions.
Ivey said the reason the project is “four years down the road and still struggling” is because the community is not fully on board.
“It’s taken hold for this council with a few that want to anchor it at Long Pond and it’s Long Pond or nothing but it hasn’t taken hold in the community,” said Ivey. “Again, it’s because we’ve left them out of it and because we picked a location and a process and project that they’re not warming up to.”
Ivey said council needs to build the arena keeping everybody in mind.
“This is about building this facility for the community,” said Ivey. “We’re not building it for those of us in this room... This is supposed to be a project that will bring the community together.”
Read More:
$12.5 million hockey facility pitched to Windsor residents
Windsor council ignores final plea to reconsider Long Pond location
New fundraising deadline for Long Pond Hockey Arena puts goal in range – CAO
Windsor's proposed Long Pond arena receives $25k boost from hockey heritage society
Windsor forging ahead with Long Pond arena plans, millions still needed to be raised
Opening up the floor
When it was time for the public to give feedback, several West Hants councillors were in the audience and a few had questions. Coun. Randy Hussey asked about operating expenses, which isn’t addressed in the 60-plus page report that council received on Aug. 2, the day before the meeting.
Coun. Jennifer Daniels asked if the project was still going to be a multi-use facility and if the walking track would be removed should they need to cut costs.
As it stands, the CAO said they heard from the community and they decided to go with the $12.5 million project so that they could have the walking track and have a hockey heritage component (in that the walls and lobby will contain memorabilia and information).
Windsor resident Rick Smith also spoke, asking council to consider three questions before making the decision. He wanted them to consider how they could in good conscience backstop $6.5 million and explain that to residents.
Windsor’s mayor asked West Hants’ warden if the two councils could meet on Aug. 7. The warden said he wasn’t clear on the purpose of the meeting.
As it stands, Windsor council decided to defer the decision until they could meet at 5 p.m. Aug. 7, following West Hants council’s special meeting at 4 p.m.
West Hants council has put forward a notice of rescission of the motion of April 11, 2017 “that council support the Hockey Heritage Centre project with a $1,000,000.00 contribution” and a notice of rescission of the motion of Jan. 29, 2018 “that for the benefit of the residents of West Hants and Windsor, council confirms its $1 million support over five years towards a complex that includes an indoor ice rink constructed by the Town of Windsor.”
West Hants’ rescission motions will not be voted on at the meeting, but brought forward to a special council meeting on Aug. 14.
In an interview following the meeting, Coutinho said he was likely going to contact the minister’s office to let them know that council deferred its decision and motions until Aug. 7, which is the deadline for the application.
“There is nothing I can do between now and Aug. 7 that’s going to change anything.”
To view the complete Long Pond Heritage Arena report, click here.
