Saugeen Shores Council has voted in favour of a three year trial period to maintain their ice rink at the Plex in Port Elgin all 12 months of the year.
Only two votes were against the motion -- Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt, and Mayor Luke Charbonneau who called the $40,000-$50,000 price tag "too rich for my blood".
"If we had $40,000-$50,000 more, we could spend that, say, on making the Colosseum in Southampton more accessible, or a lot of the other recreation projects in the summertime that people use in our community."
Deputy Mayor Don Matheson did not share these sentiments. He said that with time, enough people will be using the ice the extra four months of the year, covering the costs.
"If you build it, they will come," said Matheson. "Our figure skating clubs can plan to do a longer ice service. We have lots of people that go to Owen Sound to play summer hockey. Bring it here."
Town staff will be gathering public opinion to gauge its interest, and results are expected by the end of fall of this year, meaning if there is not enough community support, council will have time to opt-out of funding the program before their January 1, 2021 start date.