Whitefish to privatize Ice Den management
A recent decision by the Whitefish Park Board to privatize the management of the Stumptown Ice Den will be the focus of a Whitefish City Council work session today.
It has been a year of change for the indoor ice rink that has operated at a cumulative loss of more than $610,000 over the past eight years. The rink lost just over $3,717 last season.
Total revenue for the ice rink was $408,950 for last season, but total expenditures were $412,667.
In July the council increased private ice rental fees by $20 per hour for the coming season and another $5 per hour for fiscal year 2017. It also adopted a fee schedule for an extra two months, capping the season at eight months instead of six.
The Park Board denied requests from several user groups for a year-round season, relying on an outside consultant who advised against full-year use because the facility and equipment are not built to withstand such extended use.
Now the plan is to transfer the management of the ice rink from city oversight to a private management entity. The Ice Rink Advisory Committee and Park Board unanimously agreed to advertise and solicit requests for qualifications for a management agreement for Stumptown Ice Den.
Presentations from interested parties will be made this week, with a decision expected by the end of the week, according to a report by Whitefish Parks Director Maria Butts.
The Whitefish Parks and Recreation Department has managed the ice facility on Wisconsin Avenue since the indoor arena was built in 2003, replacing an outdoor rink.
“As interest in the use of the facility increased, the demands for higher levels of management and greater availability of use have also increased,” Butts wrote in her report to the council.
User groups have been involved in upgrades and the development of policies and procedures, with some groups raising money in the past for repairs and purchase of new mechanical components.
The final push to privatize came when Recreation Business Manager Shannon Holmes resigned in late August.
“In consideration of this resignation and the process of hiring a replacement, it was necessary that the future management of the facility be evaluated and consideration be made as to the past requests of the user groups,” Butts said.
The proposed contract would run from Oct. 5 through April 30, 2016, as a trial period to allow the Parks and Recreation Department to evaluate if such a management contract will work for the city.
The city would retain $308,716 of user group revenue; all revenue beyond that would go to the operator. That retainer would be used to pay all utilities up to $70,000 for the length of the season. An operator fund of $25,000 for repair and maintenance also will be provided.
The city will hold $10,000 in a fund to offset any loss of user group contracted ice time revenue. If the loss exceeds $10,000, the operator would be required to reimburse the city for the different.
The contracted operator would pay for staff under the management agreement.
Based on the fiscal year 2016 budgeted revenue, which includes the rate increased approved by the City Council this year, there is an additional $194,091 in revenue that is anticipated, according to city Finance Director Dana Smith.
“Assuming 100 percent collection of budgeted revenues and 100 percent of expenditures being expended, there would be about $105,000 for staffing the facility and/or management pay,” Smith said.
The contracted management could also earn additional revenues above the budgeted amounts through other means not currently available to the city, such as contracting out concessions and requiring a percentage of the profit be paid to management, which could cut personnel costs and bring in additional revenue, Smith said.
The work session begins at 5:30 p.m. at the council conference room in the interim City Hall, 1005 Baker Ave. in Whitefish.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.