Emergency!

Important City Council Meeting

Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 28) 7:30 PM

Municipal Court Room 73 S. Van Brunt Street

_______________________________________

After having spent over a half-million dollars last year to “fix up” the rink, and having voted to spend upwards of another million this year, there are now members of our city council who are suggesting that the rink is an eyesore and should be torn down.

We have to make this stop.

OK, I know I sound like the boy who cried wolf, but this meeting is REALLY important. The skating rink at Mackay Park could likely be handed a death sentence this week. Here’s a summary of what has led to this:

Last Spring, we made an impressive showing at the council meeting, and it seemed like they finally “got it” that the people of Englewood are overwhelmingly in favor of a skating rink in our community, and that having a rink presents wonderful opportunities for our kids.

EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of the council made a positive statement about the skating rink.

In subsequent meetings, it was decided to award a 10-year contract to the Boys and Girls Club of Garfield to operate the skating rink, and to spend upwards of a half-million of our tax money fixing the place up to their liking.

We purchased (off the top of my head – I have copies of the purchase orders and invoices:

·         A newly refurbished Zamboni

·         Tens of thousands of dollars in materials and labor to refurbish the boards and glass around the rink

·         New ice-making equipment

·         Major repairs to the refrigeration system

·         A new 700 gallon (!) water heater.

·         New rental skates

·         A new skate sharpener

·         8 new hockey goals

·         Many tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees

The rink was set to open Friday, November 2, 2012. Ice had been made, rental schedules were in place, and everything was ready to go. Then came Hurricane Sandy. Just three days before the rink was to open, Sandy’s winds tore off a large portion of the roof surface. The next day, the city administration declared that it was impossible to get the rink open – they weren’t talking about “this week” or even “this month.” Without even discussing the situation with a roofing contractor, they declared that the rink would be closed for the entire year. (You should know that similar damage occurred in a storm in 2001, and the rink was closed for a total of half day.)

In the following weeks and months, various plans were proposed to get back on track. Every member of the council voted in favor of some spending plan or another (there were at least three), the highest being over a million dollars and the lowest being in the neighborhood of  $700,000 (again, I have the documentation for all of this). The plans included fixing the roof, which is, according to the administration, fully covered by insurance. But the plans also included various combinations of:

·         A new scoreboard ($11,465)

·         A new sound system ($23,568)

·         New refrigeration controls ($80,000)

·         New storage racks for rental skates ($10,079)

·         New kitchen equipment ($41,115)

·         New flooring ($46,154)

·         New bleachers ($48,500)

·         New mesh  for outside walls ($50,630)

Remember, NONE of these items was damaged in the storm. The ONLY storm damage was to the (fully insured) roof. The rink had been ready to open THREE DAYS after the roof was damaged.

Even though each and every member of the council was in favor of fixing the roof, they were unable to reach an agreement on what, if any, additional money should be spent. So, they chose to do nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Gornisht.

So, as the months dragged on, the Boys and Girls Club of Garfield, having seen the writing on the wall, elected to exercise their option to terminate their lease, without us having had a single day’s use of the skating rink.

As of now, there is NO PLAN AT ALL to fix the roof and get the rink open. There is no contract in place with anyone to run the rink, no rental contracts in place for next year’s ice time, no plans for the recreation department or school system to have access to this wonderful facility, NOTHING.

And now, to the point:

After having spent over a half-million dollars last year to “fix up” the rink, and having voted to spend upwards of another million this year, there are now members of our city council who are suggesting that the rink is an eyesore and should be torn down.

We have to make this stop.

We need to make the council understand that the time for politics is over. With the stroke of a pen, the roof could be fixed, an operating contractor could be hired and we & our children could be skating this fall. All it would take is for the council members to decide to get on with it. And we have to help them decide.

At Tuesday’s meeting, it is essential that we get a non-ignorable number of people to come out and support the rink. Bring your friends. Bring your relatives. Bring your neighbors. And, by all means, BRING YOUR KIDS. It would be great to have signs like: “GET ON WITH IT: MAKE SOME ICE” or “MAKE ICE, NOT POLITICS” or “FIX THE ROOF” or “LET US SKATE.”

Please get in touch with me and let me know how many of you will be attending. I know this is short notice, but I don’t make the schedule. The future of our rink is on the line and on the council’s agenda. Please invest a couple of hours to make your voice heard. You and our kids will reap the benefits for years to come.

All the best,

Phillip

They're at it again

 HERE WE GO AGAIN

Dear Friend of the Englewood Ice Skating Rink,

ONCE AGAIN, OUR RINK IS IN JEOPARDY

As you are probably aware, the City of Englewood contracted with the Boys and Girls Club of Garfield to operate the rink and to provide quality programming for the children and all residents of Englewood. The city has spent almost a half-million dollars upgrading the ice-making equipment and performing general cleanup and maintenance. The plumbing work took longer than expected and the contract with the Boys and Girls Club took a while to hammer out, so the opening was delayed until November.

But Hurricane Sandy struck. The timing could not have been worse.  The ice was almost ready for skating. Contracts for ice rentals had been signed and schedules had been published. The hurricane pretty much demolished the roof of the arena. The electric power was lost and the ice melted. The decision was made to cancel the entire season and to start up next year.

So here we are, some three months later, and certain people in the city government are proposing to do far more than just replacing the roof. They want to perform capital improvements which would cost another half-million dollars. There are others in the city government who say that we simply don’t have that money to spend.

Mayor Frank Huttle has made this a major issue. He is dead-set against repairing the roof and not doing the other work. He has made this an all-or-nothing proposition. He believes that only by updating everything – from the boards to the sound system to the kitchen equipment – can we keep the Boys and Girls Club involved in our recreation department.
In his invitation to a February 11 Town Hall he says, 

“Should the council vote to replace the roof only this month or if it refused to make the necessary improvements to assure the facility is safe, the Boys and Girls Club year round programs will be lost and the facility will continue to be an eye sore in MacKay^[sic] Park.”
 

On the other hand, there are people like me who think that the city need not go beyond the roof repair, and that any other improvements should be paid for out of the operating budget of the rink.
There will be two very important meetings next week:

Monday, February 11, 6:30pm
Community Baptist Church
224 First Street, Englewood

A Town-Hall meeting hosted by Mayor Frank Huttle to discuss the involvement of the Boys and Girls Club of Garfield in the recreation department of Englewood in general and the ice skating rink in particular.  

Tuesday, February 12, 7:30pm
Municipal Court Room
73 South Van Brunt Street, Englewood

A City Council meeting during which the proposed upgrades to the rink (and their funding) will be discussed. The council is divided on the subject and our input WILL make a difference.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE BE REPRESENTED AT BOTH OF THESE MEETINGS!!!
Bring your friends. Bring your kids.

I will continue to update you as the situation develops. But PLEASE, set these dates aside.  Just a couple of years ago, the rink’s demise was all but inevitable. We’ve come too far to let a hurricane and a political agenda take our ice away. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch.

Thanks again for your support.

Phil