Commissioners debate ice rink’s future

MOUNT CLEMENS — A chilly future might be in store for the Mount Clemens Ice Arena, as city commissioners discussed giving the city-owned rink a reevaluation at the June 3 City Commission meeting.

Commissioners were tasked with deciding whether to embark on a year-long study of the ice arena by real estate consulting firm Plante Moran Realpoint. The study would examine how the arena fits into the city’s recreation offerings, determine if any overlaps or collaboration opportunities with other recreation offerings exist, evaluate the efficiency and performance of operator RT Arena Management and consider possible redevelopment or conversion opportunities.

Questions about the ice arena come as the facility is set to run a deficit for several years due to outstanding bond payments and parking lot maintenance. City officials worked with arena management to see how the financial woes could be addressed, but the cost of maintaining both the arena and the parking lot have outpaced the $3 million bonds from 2020.

“We had gone out to bid for (repaving the parking lot) in 2022; it was $400,000 — we can expect that to be $500,000 today,” City Manager Gregg Shipman said.

Shipman told commissioners that the best plan city officials and arena management could come up with would involve taking out an additional bond for the parking lot and paying half of it back over 40 years at $60,000 a year. Given the timeline and the expectation of another parking lot repaving during the life of the bond, Shipman told commissioners, “It just wasn’t going to work out.” 

“As a backup plan I’d been talking to Realpoint, and why not have them come in and look at (if we) can improve operations, if we can find a way to make the ice arena work as it is,” Shipman said. “If not, can we repurpose it? Can we sell it? Can we redevelop it? And maybe the sale of it doesn’t mean it’s not an ice arena anymore, it just means the city doesn’t own it.”

While commissioners were skeptical about taking on Realpoint at its $45,000 price tag, it was clear to them something would eventually have to be done about the ice arena. Commissioner Laura Fournier was only interested in the study if it could find new operating alternatives for the arena, since the city has other financial concerns such as water and road infrastructure improvements.

“I love having the ice arena,” Fournier said. “My grandchildren like skating there when there’s free skating time. But it’s a nice to have and not a must have, and some of the other stuff is a must have. It gets down to a financial bottom-line picture, and I guess I really want to know that you’re going to come back and will have some feasible alternatives for us that we might not consider.”

Commissioners were in agreement that many arena users came from outside of Mount Clemens but were not in agreement over how many of those nonresidents were also patronizing local businesses. Shipman and Commissioner Erik Rick cited data from a Placer.ai study that showed most people came to the arena and then left the city, while Commissioner Jill Yore and Commissioner Barb Dempsey attested to seeing people who attended ice arena events at local businesses.

Commissioners ultimately decided to table the issue to a later meeting. Realpoint is expected to revise the terms of the study during that time.

 

Budgets and changes
On June 3, the commission approved the 2024-2025 city budget, which was introduced at the May 20 meeting with an expectation of $15 million in general fund revenues and $16 million in general fund expenses. Capital projects in the city — such as the Cherry Street revitalization project, road work and water infrastructure repairs — were cited as the reason behind the deficit.

An amendment was made to the budget prior to its approval to include new revenue and expenses for playground equipment at the Cairns Community Center. Federal grants totaling $390,000 were used to cover part of the $430,000 equipment balance, reducing the general fund balance by $40,000.

The previous fiscal year’s budget saw amendments as well. Marijuana fees and Community Development Block Grant funding added about $352,000 to the general fund while the major and local streets funds saw updates due to project costs. Several funds also had interest added to their balances.