Skating groups to manage Ice Den

Management of Whitefish’s Stumptown Ice Den likely will be turned over to a private entity this fall.

While the city has managed the facility since it was built in 2003, city Parks and Recreation director Maria Butts said Ice Den user groups have recently requested the opportunity for a management agreement.

Figure skaters, hockey players and other Ice Den users have long asked for year-round ice, but the city has maintained the facility is not designed for 12 months of skating. Handing operations of the ice rink to the user groups is a viable compromise, park board member Ron Brunk told city council.

“This has been a tumultuous year between user groups and city staff,” Brunk said. “This is what we feel would be a win-win for everyone.”

The city already has similar arrangements in which the city owns the property, but a private group leases the space for the operation, including at the Whitefish Lake Golf Course, The Wave and the O’Shaughnessy Center.

The city first looked at new management options when the Ice Den manager resigned in August. The ice rink advisory committee recommended, and the park board approved, soliciting requests for qualifications for a management agreement.

City council held an informational work session Monday regarding the change in management. Any agreement will be approved by the park board.

“This is a park board decision,” councilor Richard Hildner explained. “We won’t vote on this except for budget changes.”

The deadline for management applications was Sept. 18, and interviews are expected to take place this week. Butts said the city only received one application, which she described as a combination of user groups working together.

John Kramer, who represents the group, said they would like to be part of the solution.

“We think this is an opportunity for us to come together,” he said.

The city is anticipating a contract with one operator to serve the Ice Den beginning with the 2015-16 season, which runs Oct. 5 through March 20. The city is regarding this as a “trial period” to allow the department to evaluate if the service should be continued going forward.

Under the agreement, the city would retain $308,716 in user-group revenue, with any amount generated above that going to the operator. The city also will establish a $10,000 fund to offset the loss of user-group contracted ice time and the operator would be required to offset any losses greater than that amount.

The city will pay utilities for the facility up to $70,000. A $25,000 repair and maintenance fund also will be made available.

The operator will pay the costs of staffing the facility.

The ice rink lost more than $610,000 over the past eight years. Last season the rink lost about $3,700.

“We stand to break even with this [management] contract,” Butts said.

Councilor Frank Sweeny questioned whether there would be enough revenue for rink management if user-group rental revenue is going to the city.

City finance director Dana Smith said based on the 2016 budgeted revenue, which includes a rate increase, there is an additional $194,000 that is anticipated. She said assuming collection of that revenue and expenditures, there would still be about $100,000 remaining for staffing and management pay.

She noted there’s also opportunities for the contracted manager to earn additional revenue through contracting concessions.

In July, council increased the private ice rental fees by $20 per hour for the 2015-16 season and another $5 per hour for the next year. It also capped the operating season at eight months, while adopting a few schedule for an extra two months of operation for an extended season.