Politics & Government

Budget Crunch Could Mean Big Changes for Kennedy's Ice

Due to continued budget concerns Patrick Hawkins, director of parks and recreation, presented the mayor and city council with a budget proposal that could result in serious changes.

The ever-popular and often coveted ice at the Kennedy Recreation Center could be facing big changes in the coming year. Suggested plans for the ice could result in increased ice time fees, the elimination of the Motor City Metal Jackets and moving figure skating to the weekend.

Trenton City Council members met Thursday night to discuss Kennedy's budget in the Caucus room at City Hall. The following discussion was not voted upon by the council.

City Administrator Bob Cady said as of Thursday the Motor City Metal Jackets were costing the city far more money than they provide in revenue and Mayor Gerald Brown said if they do not come up to date on their bills he would "put a lock on the doors" to the ice rink.

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According to Patrick Hawkins, director of parks and recreation, revenue from the Jackets team has never met a specific revenue goal decided upon in a contract last year when council members voted to allow the Jackets to play at the center. The revenue goal agreed upon for the team is $3,750 per month and they are currently behind in their monthly payments.

Jackets owner Kenji Yamada owes the city about $2,500 from March and the team costs were scheduled to increase in April. The revenue goal increased from $3,750 per month to $5,000 per month in April and representatives of the team have asked to have the contract reopened to reconsider the revenue goal.

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“I guess it really bothers me that if we have a legal contract and somebody is not paying their bills … the original proposal came in and they were going to make $800,000 in three years, … now it’s coming along and they haven’t done anything for one reason or another, it doesn’t mater what the excuse is," councilman William LeFevre said. "They haven’t lived up to their contract.”

The last ice paid for by the Jackets was in February according to Hawkins and the North American Hockey Leauge's (the league in which the Jackets play) regular season ended at the end of March.

A $10,000 deposit paid by Yamada last year would be used to cover the delinquent amount from March and April, but would have to be replaced according to the contract.

Yamada, according to LaFevre, is behind a total of about $18,000 for promised revenue and fees to the city.

Cady said he spoke to Craig Ward, director of business operations for the Jackets, who told him they would have a check to the city by Tuesday morning.

Cady said that Yamada was embroiled with what was going on in Japan. Japan was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Brown said that he would continue to pursue Yamada for payment and if no payments were made he would not allow the jackets to continue to use the ice.

Though the regular season is over and the Jackets did not make the playoffs, the Jackets have camps and events scheduled at Kennedy throughout the summer.

“I want them to come back here,” LaFevre said. “We need their revenue, but they have to pay.”

The Jackets aren’t the only ones costing the city money. According to Hawkins the figure skating classes are not self-sustaining and therefore he recommended moving their ice times to the weekend to avoid using prime ice time.

In addition to moving figure skating to the weekend, Hawkins proposed that the hourly ice time fee be increase by $5 per hour.

Prime ice time is the most expensive and Hawkins said he could definitely sell the ice time if it were opened up.

“Between the $5 an hour (increase) and opening up that prime-time ice … we can sell that ice and that would generate over $100,000,” Hawkins said.

The figure skating program according to Joann Perna, assistant director of parks and recreation, is a recreation program where participants pay a fee and expenses not paid for by that revenue are subsidized by the city.

According to Hawkins the figure skating program costs about $79,000 to run and the city subsidizes about $68,000 of that cost. If figure skating were moved to the weekend Hawkins said he could recoup that money by selling the ice time.

Several council members believed moving the program to the weekend was the best possible solution, but Hawkins said it would likely be met with resistance from participants.

The total amount of participants in figure skating has dropped in the past year to about 150 children. Hawkins said the program used to draw 300 to 400 children.

“We have to be careful, to be a community …  it is more than just the sports programs,” councilman Terrance Teifer said. “But figure skating anywhere else … if you go to these private rinks, they don’t give away their ice to figure skaters, they have to pay the going rate that anybody has to.”

Teifer added the money used to subsidize the figure skating program is from the general fund, which also pays for basic city services like police, fire and the Department of Public Works.

According to Hawkins the weekend ice times are the least desirable for consumers and therefore would result in opening up more desirable ice and, in turn, more revenue for the city.

Council members are set to meet at the next regularly scheduled meeting at 8 p.m. April 25.


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