#4 Discuss proposal to construct new Ice Skating CenterCITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
February 17, 2010
TO: City Council
FROM: Eric J. Levitt, City Manager
SUBJECT: Discussion of Proposal to Construct New Ice Skating Center
Including Authorization for the City Manager to Retain a
Consultant to Evaluate Current Facility and Feasibility of a
New Facility; and Possible Action on a Request to Extend
the March 1, 2010 Deadline for Fundraising.
Summary
In 2009, the City performed some preliminary evaluations of issues and possible
deficiencies at the ice rink. During the spring of 2009, the City experienced
several small failures and one large failure of the ice cooling system. In addition,
there have been some structural concerns with the facility including the roof and
back concrete wall. There are temporary repairs that are in process.
A group of individuals proposed, during the spring, that the City consider building
a new rink rather than renovating the current rink. This group is currently within
the Janesville Youth Hockey Association.
The City Council in October approved $2 million in public funds for a one-sheet
ice rink and up to $2.5 million in public funds for a two-sheet ice rink if private
funds were raised to complete the facility. It was also approved to place the rink
on the South side after discussion on location.
Possible Motion
I move to authorize the City Manager to proceed with contracting with an outside
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firm to provide a 3 party analysis of the current and possible future ice rink.
City Manager Recommendation
As the City Council is aware this project has been an evolving concept or project
since the spring of 2009. Due to that there have been a variety of issues that
have arisen during this dialogue.
Due to the evolving issues the City Manager approached and discussed the
building of a new ice rink and the issues surrounding it with several outside
consultants and management firms. Out of these conversations and contacts,
the City Manager formed a recommendation that the City Council authorize
contracting with an outside firm to evaluate a variety of the issues prior to moving
forward on the project.
The issues that I am looking for the firm to evaluate are:
1. To provide an overview of the current rink and the ability for it to continue
to operate.
2. Evaluate the current design of the proposed rink from an operational
standpoint and capital.
3. Provide a Revenue/Expenditure overview evaluation for both current rink
and a 2 sheet ice rink.
4. Evaluate the current contracts and their effect on future operations.
5. Provide recommendations.
The estimated cost for this overview is estimated at approximately $10,000.
Background
In 2008, the City began evaluating costs to improve the rink in response to the
potential to attract a Junior A hockey team to Janesville. The initial estimates for
full improvements to the rink ranged in costs from $1 million to over $2 million,
but averaged out to approximately $1.5 million.
As the City negotiated the contract with the Junior A team (now named the
Janesville Jets), the City Council authorized $200,000 in improvements to the
rink. Concurrently, the rink experienced a variety of problems this spring and
was shut down for almost 2 months fixing issues with the ice cooling system.
A group of Janesville residents, now affiliated with the Janesville Youth Hockey
Association, began developing a proposal to form a partnership with the City of
Janesville to build a new rink. The proposed rink was to be located adjacent to
the Youth Sports Complex and built on 11 acres of City owned land.
The proposed partnership evolved over the summer and has evolved into the
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attached proposal. The proposal on October 26 had the following elements:
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The building and one sheet of ice would cost approximately $4 million (not
including land).
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The expansion to a second sheet of ice would cost approximately an
additional $1 million.
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The City is requested to commit an initial $2 million and an additional
$500,000 when funds are raised for a second sheet of ice.
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The proposal projects the City to close its current $85,000 actual subsidy
to a $0 operational subsidy when 2 sheets of ice are operational.
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The proposal discusses the expansion of users at the current rink over the
last year
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The ownership of the rink would be initially the Janesville Youth Hockey
Club, but would be sold to the City of Janesville for $100 at the completion
of 5 years of operation (the City would operate the rink during the 5 years).
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The City Manager indicated to the group that due to concerns with competitive
bidding, it would be his recommendation that if the City had ownership and
responsibility for the operations of the facility that he believes that it would be
best to competitively bid the project management and construction.
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