Winona Lake Moving Forward With Rink Project
December 23, 2020 at 2:02 a.m.
By Amanda Bridgman-
The first order of business for the council was to decide to adopt a resolution approving to use Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) provisions.
Town attorney Adam Turner said the resolution states that if you’re a governmental entity that doesn’t have a separate legislative branch, then the council has to give approval to use the BOT process.
“It’s a one-time thing, you don’t ever have to do it again, and the BOT process has been around since 1997,” Turner said.
The council unanimously passed the resolution.
That BOT resolution will help provide flexibility when it comes to the multi-use pavilion and ice rink project that is planned to open in fall 2021.
“This BOT process that we’ve been talking about allows a developer to bring the entire project in one package,” Turner said. “They put it all together, they get the work done, they bid for the work to get done and then the town comes in at the end and purchases the project.”
Turner said the developer for the project is WL Ice LLC.
“We still have a ways to go in the process, but both parties felt like that at this point that we needed to come together around some sort of memorandum of understanding that lays out the understandings and the terms that have been kind of discussed to this point. ... There’s going to be much more formal agreements to come in January and February ... this is merely just kind of an understanding that we’re moving in the right direction between the parties,” Turner said.
That memorandum of understanding states that on Dec. 2, WL Ice LLC submitted a proposal for the development, construction and operation of an ice rink and multi-purpose pavilion. After receiving the proposal, the town organized a subcommittee made up of representatives from the redevelopment commission and the town, along with the town’s financial and legal consultants.
That committee proposed that their commitments would be $200,000 at the time of transfer and $2 million payable in installments of $200,000 per year over a 10-year period.
Furthermore, the town and redevelopment commission fully encourage and support fundraising efforts associated with the BOT project that will be undertaken within the community.
Turner said the town is making some commitments on some initial cash and then over the 10-year period, but that it’s really a community project that will hopefully be able to fundraise $2.5 million. The commitment from the town could be as much as $3.6 million.
Town Manager Craig Allebach said they will put together a strategy in the near future for fundraising to bring the town’s long-term commitment down. The town will be able to use funds from the Economic Development Income Tax fund and Tax Increment Finance dollars to pay for the project if needed.
The memorandum was approved, and the rink is projected to be open by Thanksgiving 2021.
“We all need to hunker down and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to raise those dollars from the community,” Allebach said.
The first order of business for the council was to decide to adopt a resolution approving to use Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) provisions.
Town attorney Adam Turner said the resolution states that if you’re a governmental entity that doesn’t have a separate legislative branch, then the council has to give approval to use the BOT process.
“It’s a one-time thing, you don’t ever have to do it again, and the BOT process has been around since 1997,” Turner said.
The council unanimously passed the resolution.
That BOT resolution will help provide flexibility when it comes to the multi-use pavilion and ice rink project that is planned to open in fall 2021.
“This BOT process that we’ve been talking about allows a developer to bring the entire project in one package,” Turner said. “They put it all together, they get the work done, they bid for the work to get done and then the town comes in at the end and purchases the project.”
Turner said the developer for the project is WL Ice LLC.
“We still have a ways to go in the process, but both parties felt like that at this point that we needed to come together around some sort of memorandum of understanding that lays out the understandings and the terms that have been kind of discussed to this point. ... There’s going to be much more formal agreements to come in January and February ... this is merely just kind of an understanding that we’re moving in the right direction between the parties,” Turner said.
That memorandum of understanding states that on Dec. 2, WL Ice LLC submitted a proposal for the development, construction and operation of an ice rink and multi-purpose pavilion. After receiving the proposal, the town organized a subcommittee made up of representatives from the redevelopment commission and the town, along with the town’s financial and legal consultants.
That committee proposed that their commitments would be $200,000 at the time of transfer and $2 million payable in installments of $200,000 per year over a 10-year period.
Furthermore, the town and redevelopment commission fully encourage and support fundraising efforts associated with the BOT project that will be undertaken within the community.
Turner said the town is making some commitments on some initial cash and then over the 10-year period, but that it’s really a community project that will hopefully be able to fundraise $2.5 million. The commitment from the town could be as much as $3.6 million.
Town Manager Craig Allebach said they will put together a strategy in the near future for fundraising to bring the town’s long-term commitment down. The town will be able to use funds from the Economic Development Income Tax fund and Tax Increment Finance dollars to pay for the project if needed.
The memorandum was approved, and the rink is projected to be open by Thanksgiving 2021.
“We all need to hunker down and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to raise those dollars from the community,” Allebach said.
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