The District of Houston hopes to ease the cost of replacing the aging ammonia refrigeration plant at the arena by applying for a grant from the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
Approval was given earlier this month by council for staffers to file for a $250,000 grant which, if successful, would cover a substantial portion of the projected $750,000 project cost.
Council had hoped to replace the plant last year but stepped back to reevaluate the project when bids exceeded what it was prepared to pay.
“If approved, the funding would reduce the need for the District to allocate its limited Gas Tax Funding towards this project, freeing up what is available to address other priorities,” said District of Houston chief administrative officer Gerald Pinchbeck of the application made to the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
That gas tax funding typically amounts to $190,000 a year and represents a return of federal gas tax monies through a program administered by the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
Remaining monies for the refrigeration project could come from federal gas tax returns not spent in previous fiscal years, Pinchbeck said.
The District has already spent $$43,000 preparing and planning for the project.
The current refrigeration plant at the arena is 40 years old and needs to be replaced.
A replacement plan for a more efficient and safer plant was crafted when inspections of ammonia refrigeration plants were carried out province-wide following a leak at the Fernie arena in October 2017 which claimed three lives.
In the interim, the District has eliminated parking and pedestrian access to the area adjacent to the existing refrigeration plant room, updated its emergency response procedures and developed a contingency plan for any potential emergency ammonia release.
At the same time as replacing the arena’s ammonia plant, the District is working on a plan with the Houston Curling Club to install a line between the arena and the club to provide ice to that facility as well.
The curling club’s plant, after an inspection last year, was shut down after found wanting.
Club members have installed new piping and associated works at their facility and are now awaiting the connection with the intention of resuming curling the next season.
That connection is forecast to cost in the $80,000 range with the District treating the figure as a loan to the curling club and recouping it over time.
