Ice Arena Authority

NORWICH ICE RINK AUTHORITY MINUTES FROM MEETING HELD June 21, 2012 Authority Attendance: Mike Goldblatt, Mike Schermerhorn, Doug Barlow, Cheryl Ritacco and Pete Desaulniers Absent: Rich Wolak Guest: Mia Sanca and Roger Moss Meeting was called to order by Michael Goldblatt at 6:40 pm, a quorum was present. Doug Barlow made a motion to amend agenda and move the Executive Session to after New Business. Mike Schermerhorn seconded it. There were no additional questions or comments and the motion passed unanimously. MINUTES Minutes from the May meeting were reviewed. Doug Barlow made a motion and Mike Schermerhorn seconded that the May minutes be accepted and they were unanimously approved. Minutes from the Special Financial Meeting held June 12 were reviewed. Pete Desaulniers requested that the minutes also include the motion and vote to unanimously accept the responsibilities document presented during the that meeting. Doug Barlow made the motion to accept the minutes from the Special Financial Meeting; Cheryl Ritacco seconded it. There was no additional discussion and passed unanimously. Mike Goldblatt reported that Rink Manager, Jim Sanca has resigned his position effective June 30, 2012. Mia Sanca will be Acting Manager until further notice. Public Comments Matthew Koheler, a three-year volunteer at The Rink, commented that due to the economy a lot of inner city kids don’t have the finances to participate in activities sponsored by The Rink. He also said that the Sancas have had a tough challenge and they do the best they can and appreciate their efforts. He believes that changes could be made but they cost money and he doesn’t believe the city is ready to do that. Deborah Schwell has been coming to The Rink since it opened and believes that today’s talent on ice is outstanding; the skaters, coaches, clubs. If The Rink were shut down, we would have to build all that talent up from scratch. Believes that there is not enough promotion of instructional talent; it would be a shame to lose it. Ashley Smith commented that the changes that are happening at The Rink are doing nothing but being disruptive. Need to stay focused; need to figure out how to keep it a float. Karl Jensen is a father of a figure skater and read off of a letter he recently sent to The Day. He read that The Rink has been a vital asset to his daughter and others; that the Sancas and coaches have taught her a lot; that the parents on the Figure Skating board are dedicated, the Rink doesn’t suffer from lack of use and it is perplexing to learn of The Rink’s economic status. He also stated that the Rink’s benefit to Norwich and surrounding communities is similar to the Norwich Golf Course and doesn’t see why this vital asset has to raise money. The Rink is a reason to be proud Marianne Vanden Boat stated that there are 3 misconceptions regarding The Rink: Parents of skaters want The Rink closed, this is the farthest thing from what they want, that the negativity stems from outside The Rink but actually stems from the inside, and the loss was $17,000 when actually it totaled $261,000. Ashley Foy, a competitive skater and figure skating coach, spoke about her positive experience at The Rink and how she has stepped up and volunteered to be the Figure Skating Director and she welcomes everyone to work with her and together to make the program grow. Mike McCullough, an active member of the South Eastern Connecticut Youth Hockey organization, commented that hockey generates a lot more players than figure skating and The Rink issues have a lot of impact on many families. He believes that they pay the most per hour and get prime time ice because they pay for it. He believes that the primary difference between the SECYH coaches and figure skating coaches is that SECYH coaches don’t get paid; they do it for the love of the game and that is why he hopes The Rink survives. Gretchen Dean-Kidsp stated that there are a lot of efforts at The Rink that don’t pan out, mostly due to the lack of grant money not coming through and that people need to step up to make this work and that a lot of efforts that are happening aren’t getting recognized. Following public comments, Pete Desaulniers stated that the City Council has no intent of closing this rink and if anything, they want to see it prosper. Correspondence The Authority received a letter of resignation from Jim Sanca. He will be leaving his Rink Manager position effective June 30, 2012. Reports Mia Sanca reported on the following: The “In-house” Basic Skills competition held June 2nd had 19 competitors and a Norwich Figure Skating Club exhibition took place the same day as well. Learn To Skate Camps will run July 9 – 13, 16 – 20 and August 6 – 10 from 8 – 3 pm Monday through Friday. These are camps managed by The Rink. The Learn to Skate program currently has 3 classes left, and The Rink would like to continue with the program on Sundays. Learn to Skate on Saturday morning will be run by Imperial Skating Academy. Further discussion is necessary. There are 10 skaters interested in playing for the U16 Norwich Nighthawks team. The Rink will assess further to determine whether to move forward with the program. John Healy will be scouting for the program. The Imperial Skating Academy, LLC has rented 46 hours of ice for summer camps Spring hockey clinics are starting July 15 for 8 weeks Mike Goldbaltt and 2 Norwich Public Utilities reps met with Thermo Source Global Energy Consultants to discuss alternative energy sources for The Rink 2012/2013 fiscal year budget is in process as well as staffing budget Old Business There was no old business. New Business The Authority has requested a tentative ice schedule for the year – it should outline all hours of operation and what is being used and what program/group/club, etc is using the ice Doug Barlow made a motion that The Authority go into executive session; seconded by Mike Schermerhorn. No decisions were made and no votes were taken. Motion to come out of executive session was made by Pete Desaulniers and seconded by Mike Schermerhorn. Mike Goldblatt announced that an offer has been made to Mia Sanca for the position of Rink Manager. The proposed contract is for 6 months with review after the first 3 months. With a motion by Pete Desaulniers and seconded by Doug Barlow the meeting was adjourned at 10:44 PM. Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Ritacco