BARRHEAD- The Town of Barrhead is hopeful that they can save about a third of the cost of a potential retrofit and energy conservation project for the Agrena through a rebate program.
Councillors unanimously authorized the administration to endorse a letter from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre during their April 13 meeting following a presentation by the parks and recreation director Shallon Touet.
By endorsing the letter, it would allow the municipality to receive $730,000 for upgrades in ice-plant refrigeration and heating upgrades for the ice rink through the Recreation Energy Conservation program. Once complete, the upgrades are expected to reduce the facility’s utility bill by about $22,000. It should also be noted that the municipality, by endorsing the letter, is not committed to go forward with the upgrades.
The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre is a partnership between the province, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. Its purpose is to help Alberta municipalities, school authorities and other community organizations to lower their carbon footprint by advancing actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs.
The town received a letter that their application had been pre-approved for the rebate.
Touet said they first learned about the program when he received a call from someone in the ice arena industry.
"It is no secret in the refrigeration world that we are planning and need to do a retrofit at some point," he said. "We were advised to apply sooner than later as the funding might not be available next year and we were fortunate to get the full amount."
Coun. Rod Klumph asked how much of the retrofit the rebate would cover.
Touet estimates the rebate would cover about a quarter to a third of the estimated $2 million.
"The retrofit would give us brand new equipment, setting us up for the next 15 to 18 years without anything major happening," he said, adding the majority of the equipment is originally from 1999. "It's definitely at the end or for some of the components past its lifespan."
The Request for Decision (RFD) notes that the Agrena upgrades are included in the town's 10-year capital plan and slated as a potential 2023 project. If the council decides to receive the rebate, they will have to complete the retrofit by Aug. 31, 2022.
Touet said if they decide to go ahead with the project, it would have minimal to no disruption, noting the majority of the work would be done in the off-season.
"The plan is to pre-order everything and stockpile it, so that it is here ready to go," he said. "Once the ice is out, the mechanics can get in there, remove the old refrigeration plant and install the new one. They will then go back to the rough plumbing and install all the heaters and connect them to the lobby and the businesses upstairs."
Recreation Facility Rentals and Rates Policy
Councillors also approved amendments to Policy 72-002, the document that sets the rental rates for the Agrena, curling rink, parks and ball diamonds.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc characterized the changes as the "housekeeping variety", adding that facility rental and user rates remained unchanged. However, in early March council voted to increase summer-ice rates by $20 an hour.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
