Presque Isle City Council members recently approved an agreement that will allow the Presque Isle Forum to obtain a new ice system for its annual ice skating season. Through the agreement, the city will sign with local company Preferred Mechanical for total refrigeration costs of no more than $375,000.
Before approving the plan on June 8, the council invited Chris Beaulieu, director of recreation and parks, to explain the plan that he believed would be the most cost effective to the Forum and to Presque Isle residents.
Beaulieu said that the Forum was previously paying $38,000 per year through their refrigeration and heating maintenance contract with another company. Signing with Preferred Mechanical will allow the city to switch to an hourly rate payment plan and pay for repairs as they go, which is projected to save 30 percent in electrical costs each year.
The city council will set up a restricted reserve account with the money saved from the new contract, which will cover the Forum’s maintenance and refrigeration costs. “We can use some of that money not used during the year and roll it over into the next,” Beaulieu said. “Then, when we have an issue with the compressor or something else, those funds will be available.”
The new ice system will be a refurbished ammonia-based system that will last 40 to 45 years and is the most efficient in lowering temperatures. Other work includes putting up a wall to separate the boiler from the ice-making system and electrical work to disconnect the old equipment, which has a cost of $15,000 to $20,000. The city will fund the project through the Forum’s 2015 budget with the money saved from not renewing their old maintenance contract. According to Beaulieu, the project can be funded within 10 years and have little or no impact on the tax rate.
“It’s a local company that would make the payments lesser and the service contract will provide for the extra 10 years,” Beaulieu said.
In addition to the project’s cost, councilors also brought up the Forum’s heating system. Beaulieu stated that even though the building’s heating system is an old one, adding any new heating piece would increase the cost of the project. Councilor Craig Green agreed that investing in a new refrigeration system should be the facility’s first priority.
“A lot of the expense for the old contract was the refrigeration and the interest that any large building has. I think the heating system is not rocket science and the refrigeration is much more involved,” Green said.
Beaulieu expects to complete the ice system project before the start of this winter’s ice skating season at the Forum on Oct. 1. In other business, city councilors voted in favor of allowing City Manager Jim Bennett to submit a grant proposal for $25,000 to the Northern Border Regional Commission to assist in an expansion for ACME Monaco, a manufacturer located at the industrial park. Green said that the council is very supportive of the expansion and will follow up on its future progress.
