The Moose Jaw Events Centre plans to repair its ice plant this summer after the machine suffered a major failure that nearly wiped out the hockey and curling ice sheets — and those respective seasons.
During its March 27 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to approve the repairs for $53,000. The money will come from the Multiplex and Yara Centre reserve account — $61,078 is in there — while an equal amount will be withdrawn from the municipality’s moderate-term investment portfolio to cover the drawdown.
The emergency repair will cost $12,560, the permanent repair will cost $27,500 and the refrigerant cost will cost $5,500, for a subtotal of $45,560. After including the contingency and PST of $7,440, the total cost is likely $53,000.
Council also voted to discuss creating a reserve fund for both buildings during the 2024 budget talks in December.
Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2022, the ice plant had trouble maintaining ice temperature levels on the WHL and curling ice pads, to where the building nearly lost both ice surfaces, building general manager Ryan MacIvor explained.
Venue staff attempted to address the situation but could not find an obvious solution, so a mechanic was hired, he continued. It took several months to identify an appropriate permanent fix because the Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (T-Sask) needed to engineer, review and approve the repairs.
Moreover, the Multiplex can only make these repairs when the ice plant is offline, so the work will occur in June and July.
Events Centre staff also reviewed all critical parts because of ongoing supply chain issues — it takes a minimum of eight weeks for a new pump — and the short window for ice seasons.
The Multiplex identified several parts it wants to purchase — there are no spares — and store for an emergency. It plans to bring forward these items for purchase during the 2024 capital budget talks.
It’s appropriate to investigate how long it would take to acquire new pieces if there were a catastrophic failure of some machinery, MacIvor said. Some redundancies are built into the ice plant, but the venue should have other items on hand to ensure business continuity.
“If it happens in the middle of the season, there’s no ice,” he added.
The contractor’s quote to permanently repair the ice plant is firm, even though it was quoted more than 30 days ago, MacIvor said. No quote changes are anticipated, even though the contractor must cut and weld into the main lines to address the refrigerant levels.
“It’s good practice for us (to include the contingency), so we’re not coming back to ask for additional funds if something unfortunate does go awry,” MacIvor added.
“I would prefer to withdraw the funds that are needed and not the contingency simply because we’re withdrawing from the portfolio,” said Coun. Jamey Logan. “I’d like to leave it in there rather than ask for it back.”
Coun. Dawn Luhning wondered if the ice plant had failed before and wondered what its life expectancy was. She also wondered what the finance department thought of this request.
The ice plant “is very complicated” because it cools the floor to make ice, while the emergency relief line must be repaired and follow T-SASK requirements, MacIvor said. An additional safety valve must be installed and an ammonia sensor added to monitor for future leaks.
Also, the problem isn’t poor maintenance, he added, since many items are 12 years old and run continually.
The Multiplex and Yara Centre reserve account is the only source of emergency funding for either building, so the city should put aside money for future repairs, said finance director Brian Acker.
Since there will be more repairs as the buildings age, Acker recommended that council create a reserve fund during its 2024 budget talks.
The Multiplex has an equipment reserve for physical items, but the ice plant is part of the building itself, he added. There was reserve money for the Downtown Facility and Field House (DFFH) nearly a decade ago, but the city used it and never replenished it.
“It’s unfortunate when these things come up, but as the report states, it’s pretty obvious this is a must-repair thing,” said Coun. Heather Eby. “$53,000 is significant enough, but not nearly as significant if we had a catastrophic failure of the plant and impacted all the events there … . So it definitely needs to be done.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 10.
