UPDATE: When asked about the liability concern pertaining to the proposed ice arena, Supt. Jeff Powers explained how this issue would he handled. The Dassel-Cokato Regional Ice and Sports Center is required to carry liability insurance at a level that is similar to the school’s insurance so that the arena is fully insured for liability, according to Powers. School events are always covered by school insurance no matter where they are, he added, and the arena will be well insured, and will not increase the school’s liability.
DASSEL-COKATO, MN – More proponents than opponents gathered at Thursday’s PTA meeting to hear an update on the proposed Dassel-Cokato Regional Ice and Sports Center expected to break ground early this summer.
Keith Raisanen, chair of the Dassel-Cokato Regional Ice and Sports Center board, gave a presentation and update, and answered questions regarding the project.
Modeled after the Waseca Community Arena, the estimated $2 million arena that would be located on the north side of the DC High School would be constructed without debt and at no financial risk to the school district, Raisanen explained.
As of Thursday night, the ice and sports center was pending a permit to build from Wright County and a land lease agreement with the district, which the board will take action on at tonight’s (Monday) meeting.
Currently, the Dassel-Cokato Regional Ice and Sports Center board has $743,000 cash on hand, making the project half-way to completion, Raisanen said.
This dollar figure is enough, however, to complete phase one of the project, which would be the building of the shell. Meanwhile, the board will begin its capital campaign to begin phase two of the project. Phase two would be “skate-able” ice using outdoor cooling. Phase three would be refrigerated cooling.
The goal is to have the arena completed through phase two by late fall of 2011.
It was also noted that Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed funding for the project as part of the 2010 bonding bill. The City of Cokato had been the grant applicant, with Senator Steve Dille (R-Dassel) supporting the project.
“This was never a make-or-break deal; it just would have accelerated it,” Raisanen said.
He also touched on the topic of cash flow and how the ice arena/sports center would operate.
The majority of the funds would come through the sale of ice time and other sources like concessions and advertising.
Rates would be similar to those of the Litchfield ice arena, which are currently the lowest of any area rink, at $140 an hour. An audience member did note these rates would be increasing by 12 percent, however, to make up for several years of no increase.
In regards to the ice programs shared with Litchfield, the board and former L/DC hockey coach Mike Sundin (now the athletic director in the Litchfield School District) agreed that two ice centers would only make the program stronger and allow for more practice time.
Raisanen and one of the parents in the audience commented that currently, practice is a three-hour commitment with drive-time from Cokato to Litchfield, dressing, and coming home.
Oftentimes, practices aren’t finished until 10:30 p.m. and her kids aren’t in bed until 11:30 p.m., one mother added.
The board does not see the hockey program splitting up.
“We see it as strengthening the program,” Raisanen said. “Neither of us are strong enough to do it on our own.”
When asked about fundraising, Raisanen said that it will be easier once the building process begins. People have told him they would donate to the 10-year non-profit effort as soon as they see it becoming a reality.
Board Member Joel Hillmann commented the board has to find the money, “We are too close not to.”
A more aggressive fundraising effort will begin once the board can announce the ground-breaking, Raisanen said. There will be three pieces of the campaign (both cash and in-kind work) including, local businesses, families within the community, and benefactors.
Dassel-Cokato School Board Superintendent Jeff Powers took the floor to address a few issues and to reiterate that the school district is not building a hockey rink.
The ice board and an ad hoc committee of three school board members (Kevin Bjork, Richard Tormanen, and Mark Linder) have been in a three-year conversation together.
“The school can’t have liability, and we feel we don’t,” Powers said, adding it’s a “win-win” situation.
In a worst case scenario, the district would have a well-built, low-maintenance building, that the district could still utilize.
Terry O’Brien, ice/sports center board member, told the audience this was not a unique situation to be building on school property. Other districts that have done this are Little Falls, Delano, Orono, and Monticello.
It was also noted that many of the ice arenas, like the Waconia ice arena, are having financial troubles because they were not built debt-free.
Melissa Weckwerth, PTA chair, was pleased with the turnout, counting 56 in attendance, though a majority were hockey parents, she said.
For more information, contact Keith Raisanen at keith@saunatec.com.
I think you are all nuts for supporting this project!!! Ask the City of Hutchinson how much they are subsidizing their ice arena!! It is costing the taxpayers to subsidize the difference from what the ice time, concessions, and fees pays into the program and what the actual costs are to maintain the buildings. Again, who is paying for and maintaining the Zamboni for the DC Arena?? And, who will be paying for replacement of the refrigerant coils when they become old and worn? The City of Hutch had to pay approximately 1/2 million dollars to pay for that maintenance after only a few years of existence. I hope this Contract with the DC School District will indeed be air-tight and the school district taxpayers won’t end up paying for this white elephant as well when after a couple years the DC Regional Ice & Sports Center falls flat on its face!! Our economy is so fragile right now - will the hockey players and figure skaters parents be willing to pay the high cost of participating in these sports for their kids?
I believe that the hockey players families are already footing a huge amount of money towards the cost of the ice time etc. in Litchfield. They know better than the rest of us that don’t have kids in hockey how much it costs and the time commitment that goes with that. I believe that they are trying to find a way to make it so that their families do not have to get up at 4:00 am in order to be on the ice by 5:00 am in Litchfield to have two hours of practice time to get back to Cokato in time for school. There is a huge demand for ice time as well as gym time in Minnesota in the winter. Just try to schedule time yourself if you don’t believe it. The five gym facilities in this district are used solid from 6 am to 9 or 10 pm every day. I would guess ice is even worse because there is less of it (one building) and the same amount of teams trying to get time on it. These facilities are not just used by the varsity teams. There are teams from kindergarten on up using them.
I wish good luck to the ice committee to get this up and running.
My concern is will the hockey families continue to “foot the bill” for the ice arena? Or, in the alternative, will they look to the district taxpayers to pony up the difference when their sport becomes so expensive that it prohibits the families from participating because of the cost? That is where I draw the line, and definitely do not want to have to pay taxes for upkeep and maintenance of the ice arena just because it is built on school district property. By the way, who is assuming the liability in case an accident occurs on this propety - the Hockey Association or the DC School District????? It has been my experience that should the unthinkable occur, the injured person and their family will look to all “pockets” for recovery.
It has been my experience the precious few people feel they can stand up to the hockey mafia in this community. So I guess I am not surprised that there was “little opposition” to this project.
So when it becomes a financial albatross–like countless other hockey arenas across the state–who will get left holding the bill?
If the school board continues to offer its unequivocal support to this, I for one will not vote for a single referendum again, regardless of how great the need will be.
Input is always awesome and useful! Regarding editorial comments, the author of the text, whether the comment is “Positive” or “Negative” should be listed. This will illustrate true transparency and validation in a communication link like this.
Steven J. Benda - Strong promoter of asset building activities with our local youth.
What difference does it make if you know who is making the comments in this forum, either positive or negative, and why do you care? Personally, I wouldn’t want my name known because of fear “of harrassment by the hockey mafia.” This newspaper offers this forum as a spring board to get discussions going on a variety of topics. I note from the article that mostly hockey parents were in attendance at the PTA meeting. They were there to give the school board their support. Great, but what if there was opposition stated at the meeting - I am almost positive those critics would have “feared for their lives” once the meeting was finished.
Again, I suggest that the DC Regional Ice & Sports Center supporters check the City of Hutchinson’s website, and see what the expenses, income, etc. are for their hockey arenas. Ice time, etc. brought in $212,800.00; expenses totalled $324,827.00. The ice arenas are also debt-free - need I say more?
I dont play Football, Basketball or band, yet the school spent 13 million on those things, yet when they are asked to spend 0, on a rink, and people point to Hutch, or what ever city anf say, they spend this, thay spend that your 212,800 number at 150 per would = 1400 hour rented, wow, I bet some of those people eat lunch in town, maybe got gas or did some other shopping I would say it safe that a 100K was spent by people who only came to town for the rink.
When they ask for your tax money then scream.
When they ask for my tax money to support the ice arena, it will be too late to scream - only open up my checkbook which by the way is getting thinner and thinner with more requests for additional monies for our federal, state, local governments and schools. I hope you are correct that Dassel will be making tons of money with all these folks coming to town for hockey tournaments and staying in our local hotels and eating lunches at all of our restaurants and buying gas for their vehicles not to mention doing all of their shopping at our local mall. These businesses should be excited about the prospect of the new ice arena.
Look upon it this way…
If the DC ice committee does get the money to build this pole shed on school property at no cost to the taxpayers it is a win win situation.
They pay for the building and if it fails…then the school will have a pole building that can be used for multifunction events. Nobody is saying that the taxpayers will have to keep ice in the building if it is not profitable. Meanwhile when there is ice in there then they will no longer have to pay to bus the phy ed classes into town to use the ice there for the classes that have those activities. This could end up saving the district money.
I personally do not believe that they will be profitable, but until they ask for money from me to build or maintain it I do not care.
PS: I am out at the school a lot because of my children and I work in one of the towns. I have never run across this “hockey mafia” that is being referred to. Rather I see people that are involved in their children’s lives that want to provide this building for their children. If they pay for it why should I care?
I do not have children that attend school at the DC School District, but I live in this district and this is news to me that the school actually busses phy ed classes to neighboring ice arenas to skate. Is this an accurate statement? If this is indeed the case, for sure I will never support a levy brought to the voters - that is a total waste of money. I thought we were paying for EDUCATION not skating activites in phy ed class.
Physical education classes are as important and needed in school as math, science and communication classes. Especially with the obesity problem in America. Without proper activity levels the healthcare in this country is going to go through the roof…even more than it is now. We need our children to learn how to take care of their bodies as much as they need to know what 2 + 2 equals.
Some (not all) of the physical education classes from the high school are bussed into town (Cokato or Dassel) to the outdoor ice rinks for physical education class since ice is not available within walking distance from the school. The elementary schools WALK the students to the rinks. They do not go to “area ice arenas”.
Skating is a good physical activity that some children are only exposed to in physical education classes. Just like they cross country ski and snowshoe during physical education classes in the winter. In the spring and fall they do activities in class that are appropriate activities for that season like football, soccer, softball or baseball. Variety in what activities they do in class is what makes it work for all the students. Not everyone is going to be able or comfortable doing jumping jacks or push ups all class.
I applaude the physical education teachers in the varied activities that they expose the students to. We are creating better, healthier children as a result. Some students NEED the physical activity in physical education in order to concentrate in the core classes that they and the school district are tested on. A student that needs to burn off energy is not going to be as productive in a sit down class room as one that has that need met and is now able to concentrate.
The physical education teachers in this district taught my children how bad soda pop is for their bodies. That was something I tried to teach them…but was unsuccessful. I wish someone had taught me that back when I was younger. Now I have children that are healthier and rarely or ever drink pop. They will grab a drink of water, milk or juice before pop even if pop is available. That is a victory for us parents with kids in this district. They also have been to the doctor’s office less I think as a result.
A mall in Dassel, A hotel — That would be great. I bet those people pay tax, the more paying the less your tax bill is - looks like Grandma has the right plan the rink is win/win for everyone. I think shoeless joe said it best “if you build it they will come”!
The concerns still have not been addressed regarding the new ice arena regarding the liability, etc. should an accident occur on this property. Is the school district indemnified from such liability with their “contract” with the hockey folks? I keep hearing about how great the building will be for the school district, but I haven’t heard about the liabilities involved with it being built on school district real estate, or will the school district have to obtain additional insurance to cover such possible accidents?
Everyone should wear a helmet on any school property to mitigate any accidents that might happen.
I am no lawyer, but I do not think that any lawsuits will pass through to the taxpayer…
Obviously you are not a lawyer otherwise you would know that lawsuits at any degree increase premiums and thus cost taxpayers more mooney. Have you ever made a claim to an insurance company for repairs after a car accident or homeowners insurance company after a hail storm even if either of those instances were not the fault of the owner? Believe me, you will be paying increased premiums for a long time to make up for that claim. But you don’t need to be a lawyer to understand that concept. Just be a well-informed taxpayer!!
I think Grandma has a chip on her shoulder. It’s time for you to move to another community. One that doesn’t have an ice arena. I am NOT a hockey fan, have not given a cent to the DC Ice Arena, and my kids will NOT play hockey. But, if they can raise the money, go for it. This is a lesson to all kids in this community. If you dream and work hard for what you want, things will happen. This was a dream for many people in our community, and now it looks like it is a reality. Good for you. I wish you the best of luck and hope that it is a sucess in years to come. After watching the Olympic iceskating, maybe my daughter could actually learn how to figure skate with this project. Time will tell….
I agree that maybe grandma is very disgruntled with her community and maybe it’s time to go elsewhere where they don’t spend money on the kids in the district. Yes, I am a hockey parent, and we are excited about not driving to Litchfield 4-5 times a week. We also realize there is a cost involoved and more than likely our fees will go up in order to support the arena here…..it is one of the most expensive sports your kids can play
I am also confused about the hockey mafia that is mentioned. Our kids enjoy hockey….I have never been part of or heard of any harrassment being done by families with children that play hockey. We are just like any other family out there trying to support our kids in their interests.
Just my two cents after reading the article. I am in the debt recovery business for my clients. Not to name any names but I have come across quite a few Ice Arena’s in the area and the state who go deliquent on there financial obligations. Good luck to the DC Arena I hope they can make a go of it. Hockey is an important and popular sport in our state, we need to give the kids who want to participate the opportunity to do so.