Hockey arenas get some summer love

The dehumidification system in the city’s Northwoods hockey arena — considered too small for the facility for years — is finally being replaced.

Cloquet city councilors unanimously approved a bid for $275,080 to replace the existing dehumidification system with an appropriately sized unit this summer, paid for with funds from the half-cent sales tax. The bid came in almost $75,000 below the engineer’s estimate.

The council did not approve a second bid to construct stairs and safety rails to access the new system, as it came in at more than double the engineer’s estimate. City staff plan to rebid that part of the project.

The new dehumidification system is part of a $1.14 million project to fix the most pressing issues in both Cloquet hockey arenas for now. The bulk of the expense will come from replacing the piping and sand floor in Pine Valley Arena (aka The Barn) next door, as well as changing the compressor plant there to an indirect system, in which the coolant would stay in the ice plant itself and either brine or glycol would run through the floor pipes to cool the ice.

The repairs to The Barn floor were recommended after most of the 40-year-old facility’s R-22 coolant leaked out last summer. The city had to spend $50,000 in October 2019 to replace the chemical after fixing numerous leaks in the aging floor and compressor plant so the arena could be used for hockey as soon as possible. The new floor will be compatible with a future conversion of both ice plants to a single indirect system that would not use the R-22

refrigerant.

Public works director Caleb Peterson said the bid for the Pine Valley project came in too late to bring it to the council, but noted that both bids together come to $972,000.

“We’ve got about $170,000 of room and we’re comfortably within the budget, but I expect some change orders,” Peterson said.

Shifting seasons, city administrator Tim Peterson addressed a number of calls to councilors regarding the city’s decision to not open The Beach at Pinehurst Park this summer and Gov. Tim Walz’s announcement that pools could be opened. The governor’s announcement came only days after the council expressed its support of keeping the swimming pond closed this year.

“I don’t know that we would have made a different decision,” Peterson said. He explained that safety was the city’s No. 1 concern during the pandemic. “I also don’t think we could have hired enough lifeguards,” he said. The two-week lead time to fill the pool and adjust the chemicals was also a factor, along with the even greater than usual loss of money that would come with opening a month late.

“This isn’t something we want to do, but I think it’s necessary for safety and watching the public dollars,” he added.

In other matters Tuesday, the council approved a Tax Increment Finance Housing District for the next phase of the Trails Edge senior duplex rental project.

Owner Jim Kuklis already constructed 11 buildings (with two units each) and plans to construct the remaining five lots along the south edge of the project. The project is age-restricted to residents aged 55 and older, and no children are allowed. In exchange for using approximately $312,000 in TIF funds, the project will apply rental limits on some of the properties, ensuring that 20 percent of the units are occupied by people whose incomes are at 50 percent or less of area median income.

Three of the duplexes are expected to be completed by June 2021 and the other two buildings by June 2022.

Finally, the city administrator noted that the governor’s orders still prevent the council from holding in-person meetings that would be open to the public because the number of attendees would be greater than 10 with only councilors and city staff. Peterson said he will continue to track the governor’s recommendations and get back to the council when those orders change. Until then, the council will continue to meet electronically. The meetings are livestreamed on the city’s website. People can also call in to participate or listen, or email questions or comments in advance of the meeting to [email protected].