It’s still uncertain if Burns Lake will have an outdoor skating rink adjacent to Spirit Square in the near future.
During last week’s budget meeting, councillor Susan Schienbein said she was disappointed that the cost of the proposed outdoor rink has considerably grown compared to when it was first proposed in 2015.
“I think it’s disappointing that we weren’t able to do it this year,” said Schienbein, adding that other municipalities have been able to create outdoor rinks at a lesser cost.
“We’re Burns Lake, we’re on the lake, providing free outdoor recreation that is healthy for our families is an important aspect of local government,” she continued. “I’d like to see us look at this for next year.”
Village staff has recommended council not to move ahead with the plan, saying that the expense of the project would outweigh the benefit. The estimated first-year cost of an outdoor rink would be approximately $10,500, with an ongoing annual cost of roughly $7000 to maintain it.
“While the creation of an outdoor rink would be an enjoyable addition to the community and provide residents with a free, family-friendly activity through the winter, the expense that it would represent would outweigh the benefit,” says a village staff report.
Costs would include creating the ice, hand shovelling, flooding and ice maintenance. Additional arena staff labour would also be needed to create and maintain the rink.
“Creating ice on the lake, shovelling, and flooding would require two arena employees for four hours; maintaining the ice would require two area staff to shovel and floor the ice for two hours at a time, every other day,” says the report. “Even a small amount of snow on the ice must be completely removed before flooding.”
Furthermore, since creating an outdoor rink is dependent on weather conditions, certain weather patterns could increase the need of labour to maintain the rink.
Snowplowing would have to be done by the public works crew since recreation staff do not have the proper equipment, and using heavy duty equipment on the ice would require special insurance to cover the liability.
“The public works crew is already minimally staffed on weekends and it may not be possible to provide snowplowing services during that time.”
If the ice rink was built, the village would also need to purchase pumps, hoses, nozzles, shovels and an outdoor storage shed with a heating system. In addition, the rink would also require outdoor lighting.
The report notes that the rink would create additional liability risks for the village since the rink would not be patrolled and ice breaks or “slip and falls” could occur.
Council decided to bring back these discussions in the fall of 2017.
