Consider Reduction in Ice Skating Operations and Maintenance 

Background
Around 1977, a concrete block warming house and two wooden hockey rinks were constructed by volunteers on the Ramsey Elementary School grounds, at 15000 Nowthen Boulevard.  Each late Fall since, Public Works staff creates ice within the hockey rinks and adjoining pleasure rink by flooding with the city's water truck. (This was done using fire hoses in the early years, until the city purchased a used water truck in 1987.) The flooding by truck is generally a round-the-clock process during the work-week, in the weeks before the skating season opening target date of the Friday before the school districts' Winter Break (the third or fourth weekend of December). 

In 1986, the city also created two hockey rinks and a pleasure rink at Central Park, and completed a new, modern warming house with restrooms there the following year. For both of these facilities, the school and the park, approximately 8 rink attendants are hired and trained and staff the warming houses 7 days per week during the skating season, which generally is between the last week of December through February.  After a suitable layer of ice is created at each 6+ sheets of outdoor ice (including the skating trail at Central), staff shifts to the maintenance mode of sweeping and flooding each ice sheet most weekdays during the season, which is an almost full day endeavor for two full-time staff.  During periods of snowfall, the amount of labor and equipment time doubles, as the ice needs to plowed, then each hockey rink needs to cleared using two different snowblowers—then swept and flooded on a subsequent day(s).

Observations
Throughout the 1980's and 1990's skating remained a popular activity for families and children—and the facilities were especially used by hockey coaches for both the Anoka and Elk River high schools for team practices on weekday evenings.  In recent years, hockey rink reservations by coaches have declined to almost none, due in part to the indoor ice arena availability in Elk River and Anoka.  Additionally, outdoor ice skating has diminished somewhat in popularity, particularly over the last decade.

This past Winter, with the frequent snowfall events and record snowfall, there were many days where staff could not get to clearing the snow from the rinks, due to the priority of snow removal on streets, municipal parking areas and trails and sidewalks. Despite the rink closures, there were no complaints and very few comments by residents on the periods of skating unavailability.  This observation led to the question as to whether a single skating facility (Central Park) may be adequate to serve the community.  As part of this inquiry, staff totaled the cost of operations and maintenance of the rinks and warming houses annually, and under a full-cost accounting approach finds that the cost exceeds $100,000 for each facility, for the 14 to 16 weeks of active O & M activity. The actual period of suitable skating and which the warming houses are open to the public in year is a maximum of 10 weeks, often as few as 7 weeks, occasionally less.  Within these weeks there are also days where the facilities are closed due to inclement weather (too cold, too warm or poor ice conditions).

For three decades, staff has required the rink attendants to count the number of patrons that come and go during their work shift, establishing the number of residents served by the two different rink and warming house sites. This has documented the aforementioned decline in rink users—despite the opposite growth in the number of residents in the city.  These trends are depicted in the second attachment.  In addition to the general decline in hockey and pleasure skating in the city, this past year's patronage of the two different facilities would seem to show that residents prefer Central Park over the school, with 2,654 counted at Central, and just 654 at the school—despite a far greater population density nearest the school.

Alternatives/Options
Given the time-cost of O & M to create skating opportunities in the community, staff is proposing 'shuttering' the facilities at Ramsey Elementary for the 2023-24 Winter season.  Under this scenario, there would be a prominent sign placed at the school rink, advising anyone arriving at the rink, that the full-service skating facility at Central Park is open and available for their use. (At Central Park's warming house there is a fireplace, adequate heating, drinking water and full-service restrooms—in contrast to the school which only has a single outdoor portable toilet.)

Closure of the skating facility for this coming Winter would be valuable for determining if a single outdoor skating facility is adequate to serve the community, based upon overall resident feedback and actual patronage at Central Park for the 2023-24 skating season.  If a single skating facility is adequate (or even more than adequate), the hockey rinks at the school could eventually be removed.  Additionally, future upgrades and improvements to the facilities at Central Park could be properly evaluated and planned for within the Capital Improvement Program in the coming years.

There is no funding required for closure of the school skating facility for this coming Winter as proposed—rather, there would be modest cash savings for vehicle and equipment fuel, municipal water used for flooding, electricity for the rink lights and warming house heaters, as well as wages paid to the rink attendants that would not be needed.  There also would be the value of hundreds of hours of maintenance staff time that would be freed to attend to other work.

Staff recommends considering closure of the skating facilities for the 2023-24 season, as a trial, and potential long-term cost savings for the community.

Motion to recommend/not recommend to City Council that the hockey rinks and warming house at Ramsey Elementary be closed for the 2023-24 skating season.