City approves loan to hockey arena for new Zamboni, cooling tower

Talk about it

On Tuesday, Cloquet City Council members and Mayor Bruce Ahlgren approved a loan for up to $175,000 to the Cloquet Area Hockey Association (CAHA) to help cover costs associated with the replacement of the cooling tower this past hockey season and the purchase of an electric Zamboni machine.

The Zamboni machine has to be replaced as a result of recent legislation passed in Minnesota, which set new indoor clean air rules for all indoor hockey shelters. Although there isn’t a specific deadline for compliance, officials expect it will likely be set within the next two years. A new electric Zamboni costs more than $100,000 – 40 or 50 percent higher than a standard Zamboni – but CAHA officials estimated the cost of a used machine at approximately $85,000. The alternative would be making improvements to the air exchange/handling system.

Costs for the cooling tower were $45,000 for the tower itself, plus another $9,000 for Freon need to allow the system to be charged and operate.

The loan will be paid back with no interest over a period of 13 years. The loan comes on top of the ground lease agreement from 1996, when the city issued bonds to fund the construction of the ice hockey arena. As of Jan. 1, 2012, CAHA owed the city $779,050 which is to be paid back as part of annual payments in the amount of $51,930, terminating in 2026. Although the city of Cloquet technically owns the Northwoods Arena, CAHA manages and operates the facility and is responsible for all associated capital improvements and capital equipment repairs and purchases.

In other matters Tuesday, Cloquet Councilors did the following:

+Approved a resolution agreeing to work with Carlton County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation to complete improvements at the intersection of Highway 33 and Doddridge Avenue/Big Lake Road, a project now set for the summer of 2013. MnDOT will act as lead agency, in order to take advantage of federal funds for the combined project, which will also include a reconditioning of Highway 33 from Doddridge Avenue south to Interstate 33.

+ Passed a resolution giving the property owner at 739 Larch Street in Cloquet 15 days to clean up debris from the demolition of a home on the property before city staff do the work and charge the property owner for labor and costs.

+ Approved a $1,283,995 bid from VEIT & Company, Inc. to reconstruct 18th Street from Wilson to Prospect Avenue and Prospect Avenue from 18th Street to 20th Street. In addition to the street reconstruction, a larger capacity storm sewer system will be installed, and sidewalks will be added.

+ Approved another three-year term for Guy Unertl on the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Board. Unertl has served on the Board since 2006. The other two seats are held by Councilor Dave Manderfeld and Mayor Bruce Ahlgren.

Tags: carlton county, cloquet, government