Curling club gets interest free loan for new chiller | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Penticton News

Curling club gets interest free loan for new chiller

The Penticton Curling Rink got the nod from City Council for an interest free loan of $32,000 for necessary ice chiller replacement prior to this season's start up of the curling club.

PENTICTON - Penticton Curling Club should have a new chiller in place to start this year’s curling season, after city council agreed to front the group a loan.

The Penticton Curling Club holds a lease with the city to operate, repair and maintain the curling club facility located at 505 Railway St.

Under terms of the lease agreement, the city is only responsible for roof repairs and maintenance, as well as to the rooftop heating and ventilation units.

The city loaned the club $45,000 interest free, in 2017 in order to replace a compressor unit, but other components are aging, and more recently an undersized ammonia discharge pipe at $25,000 and leaks in the brine chiller, necessitating replacement at a cost of $67,000, have been identified as non-compliant by the B.C. Technical Authority.

The cost to replace only components deemed non-compliant by the B.C. Technical Authority totals $92,000, but City Recreation Director Bregje Kozak told council the club is pursuing a matching grant that could allow the club to replace all key components in the ice plant for an additional cost of $123,000, for a total of $215,000.

The club can currently commit only $35,000 towards the necessary technical authority upgrades, but are hoping that amount could be boosted to up to $51,000 through a contribution from Scotties Tournament of Hearts ticket sales, which would be applied later in the fall, should the club be successful in its bid to be awarded matching funds.

The technical authority upgrades are urgent and must be done immediately to avoid losing the upcoming season, while the full upgrades can wait until this fall when Scotties contributions are known.

The city would also be expected to pay for upsizing of the ammonia pipe at $25,000, leaving a funding shortfall of $32,000 for the technical authority upgrades.

The shortfall would be the same should the curling club be successful in getting the grant to replace all key components.

The interest free loan would not affect the city’s financial plan but does need to be announced publicly for two weeks in a local newspaper.

It’s not the first time the city has loaned money to tenants in other facilities. The city has also contributed to the art gallery and Leir House.

Councillors’ concerns about loan payback were assured by Kozak, who said terms of the loan would be negotiated to ensure provisions about payback were included.

Council agreed to allow staff to negotiate a loan with the curling club for a total of $32,000.

The city last loaned the club $45,000 interest free, in 2017 in order to replace a compressor unit.


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