The cost of a new Zamboni for the Thorold Community Arena raised some questions at the city council meeting Tuesday night, after a report recommended the city dish out approximately $200,000 for a new ice resurfacer.
The vehicle was approved for purchase in this year's capital budget after staff said the current Zamboni is nearing the end of its useful life, after almost 20 years in service.
“The amount of money we are spending on some ice time is getting ridiculous,” said Councillor Carmen DeRose. “Is it an urgent request to get this done? I'm not a mechanic, but when I go to the arena, the machine looks fine to me.”
Staff are recommending awarding the lucrative contract to Zamboni Company Ltd. The unit for the City of Thorold will be at a contract price of $174,826.42, excluding HST.
DeRose had a hard time seeing the rationale for the purchase, which also comes with another bill for a second Zamboni that the city needs to pay for in part, which will be used at one of the ice rinks in the still-not-open Canada Games Facility. The contract suggests getting that unit under the same contract, from the same business.
"Has the current one been breaking? Has it been having issues or sitting idle, so it can't be used?" DeRose asked, adding the deal made him shake his head.
"That’s the idea of replacing it," responded Curtis Dray, the city's manager of community services. "If the ice machine goes down, we will lose all revenue from the arena."
The cost of the second unit will be invoiced to the Canada Games Consortium Partners immediately upon delivery, the report said.
