Upgrades to the Leo Boivin Centre’s ice plant and floor will be waiting until the future after counsellors voted to turn down the Mayor’s motion to include it in this year’s capital projects budget.
Counsellors were concerned about the town taking on more debt, as they had just received a presentation on Monday night at Committee of the Whole showing that Prescott holds a higher percentage of debt than similar municipalities in the region.
The provincial limit of debt a municipality can take on is 25% of the municipality’s revenue; Prescott is currently at 17%.
Mayor Brett Todd says the town has brought on that debt in the right way by completing infrastructure projects such as the Riverwalk District, upgrades to the town’s street lights, and the building of a new fire hall.
The capital projects budget for the upcoming year, which still needs council’s approval, currently sits at $8.4-million.
Prescott’s current ammonia ice plant at the arena is 50 years old, and only one of two left in the province.
Todd put forward a motion on Monday night to start planning for the upgrades, which would also put the town in a position to receive federal funding to help with the project.
Between worries of debt piling up and disagreements on timing, the motion was voted down 4-3.
Todd says he doesn’t think the town can wait until 2020 to fix the arena, and claims that if the ammonia ice plant at the arena is not upgraded in the near future, Prescott could end up without an ice rink altogether.
