The Mayor of Bluewater says the municipality has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding with community groups wishing to see the ice remain in the Bayfield Arena.
Tyler Hessel says an earlier statement created the impression that an agreement had been signed but that was not the case. Hessel says at this point they're working with BCAPA and BFIT on a memorandum of understanding but they're also waiting for input from a consultant they've hired. Hessel says one of the things that consultant will look at is the benefits of a third-party partnership in running a recreational facility.
Hessel says while they wait for that they have committed to putting the ice back in the arena this fall and the community group has committed to provide twenty-thousand dollars to help with that cost.
“At this point what we're planning to do is work with them over the next year. We have a consultant hired at this point to give us recommendations and part of those recommendations are the investigation of whether a third-party partnership would be the right approach so we're doing that right now.”
“We are looking forward to moving forward with installing ice. The community group did suggest they would be able to fund a portion of the funding of that program which equates to about twenty thousand dollars.”