The Hamburg Town Council announced yesterday that the New Ice Arena proposal will be sent to a town wide referendum. The date will be announced later but it will definitely be within the next 75 days.
Supervisor Steven Walters announced it yesterday to the surprise of everyone in attendance. I know for a fact that everyone on the Hamburg Recreation Advisory Board wanted such an action. This proposal is far to expensive for five people to burden the town with. Let the residents decide if they want to proceed with this proposal.
The financing of the proposal is set to come out a week or so before the referendum hits the voting machines. More to come soon on this development.
Hamburg voters will decide fate of sports complex
Voters in the Town of Hamburg will decide if a private company will build a twin for the town’s ice rink and take over operations of the municipal sports complex.
The Town Board decided Monday to put the plan to a townwide referendum within 60 to 75 days.
“It’s important for the public to have a great deal of input on this project,” Town Supervisor Steven Walters said.
The new rink project at the Nike Base Recreation Center on Lakeview Road is expected to cost $9 million to $11 million, he said.
Leaping Sports Facility Management LLC, a partnership between town resident Jeff Walker and ex-Sabre Dave Andreychuk, proposes to build and operate the ice complex under a long-term lease with the town.
If a majority of voters approve the plan, it will still face a vote in the State Legislature to turn park land over to private hands.
Residents said they wanted to know more details before going into the voting booth.
“I hope there’s a long enough time frame to review [information],” Leonard Kowalski said, “to make sure the town and the proposed lessee are getting a fair shake.”
The town will try to schedule two information meetings to distribute project details to the public before the referendum, Walters said. Project information may also be put on the town’s Web site.
At an information meeting in December, Walker and Andreychuk described a project including a field house, indoor soccer facility and a restaurant, as well as a second ice rink. The sports management company would line up financing and guarantee one-third of the project cost.
The company was the only respondent to the town’s request for proposals last year.
Under the privatization plan, the partnership would shoulder expenses of the sports complex and keep any surplus revenue, up to a limit that is still to be established. The current town-operated rink, built in 1974, runs at a loss, according to Walters. The estimated costs for holding the special vote are about $5,000, he said.
Proponents of the rink privatization plan say it will alleviate the shortage of ice time for Hamburg youth hockey players while shifting recreation costs away from taxpayers. But critics question the town’s risk in the project and whether to turn over control of municipal property to private hands.
In other action, the Town Board:
• Amended a sign law to allow easier conversion of existing billboards into electronic signs.
• Enacted a requirement of at least four hours of training per year for members of the Planning and Zoning boards.
• Set March 23 as the public hearing for a zoning change at the Penn- Dixie fossil site. The switch of five acres to parks-recreation classification would aid the creation of a planned visitors center.
well it is about time we heard something about this it has been quite for a while
Obviously Dave is an educated man……
Dave must be Andreychuk, as a junior hockey player he didn’t get a lot of book learnin’.
Privatize the profit, socialize the losses, watch and see how this shakes out for taxpayers…
I think there needs to be a total market study done on this before the voters can head to the polls and make a decision based on real facts and figures.
Andreychuk and Walker are using this political season to push this item through so Walters looks good to voters in November.
Some questions:
1.) What does Tom Best think about this?
2.) What does Kevin Smardz think about this?
3.) If voted down, will Walters appear to have egg on his face and give his political opponents ammunition for this fall?
I like the idea but more information needs to be released to the public. I want to see and hear more. Taxpayers want to save money but need to know all the facts before they vote.
Will Walters use his position to educate us or leave us in the dark? I like him -alot actually, but I want to make sure this really is a win win win for taxpayers, the town and Andreychuk/Walker.
It’s a win/win for Andreychuk and Walter : if it flops it’s on taxpayers ; if it succeeds they they walk away even richer ; it’s, a calculated roll of the dice for Walters and a smart betting person says it’s most likely to be a loss for taxpayers. Glad I moved out of Hamburg but it’s amusing to watch the machinations from one town over…
walker I meant !!!
i agree with Craig what do the politicians think of this, haven’t heard a word from any of them, and we haven’t heard any thing from Ford on this either, as a tax payer in the town, and a person who uses the rink it is a big gamble for the tax payers if it passes and then Walkers group fails, what is next the taxpayers are held responsible to pay for this
There will be more information for all us in the near future. This is a win win win.
1st.
The tax payer loose more than $150,000 per year. Add the bond payment of $80,000 ( $1.2 million was the amount of the bond taken out in 1997) to that it is well over $200,000. yes that bond got payed off at the end of the new year, BUT if this project does not go forward the town needs to demolish the current lobby and locker rooms and rebuild them to come up to code. That will cost approx. $2 million….That equals another bond to be taken out and that will cost an estimated $125,000 per year…Now add that to the lose we (tax payers) have to cover so the lose is now close to $300,000 WOW…WOW…WOW..WE NEED TO THINK OUT SIDE THE BOX AND TRY TO STOP THE BLEEDING.
This is a big Win for the Taxpayers.
2ND
The Group coming in is not going to get rich on this project….making $150-200,000 per year is not much.
Accounting practices will be under the Town eye and the everyday maintance will be watch by the Town. They also have to put money aside for future maintance cost that will need to be down to the building in 10/15/20 years from now.
Also The recreation Department will get a kick back when this group makes a certain amount.
That is the 2nd win of the Win Win Win
3rd.
The local economy will benefit from this complex. This will be a destination for the people to come to our town. It also will stop all our people from leaving our town to take the kids to play at other places, and that means possiblly spend money in other towns and not ours.
This is the third win …
Lets start thinking possitive…Steve would not have brought this project this far if he thought it was a bad deal…..
Also that states show Public Private Partnerships dont fail.
If the town in 7 years have to take it over they have saved around 1.4 million and they cant do any worse as they do now…loose $150-200,000 and worse if the have to rebuild the lobby and lockerrooms.
Then they will have a new building and a destination for people to come to their town and spend money in their town instead of watching there taxpayers take there kids to other towns to play sports…
Come on people get real…think outside the box….This is the exact reason this area suffers…
Sportsman, are you Jeff Walker? If so then just say so. People would love to discuss this with you here.
That is not how it works…. You just double the lose if you double the size…utilities go up a tad, payroll would go up a tad, but you have more revenue….come on your smarter then that
The Town will loose about he same or a tad more, but that is it…., if they have to take it over in 7 years. but they would save around 200,000 per year for the next seven years. If they were smart they would budget that amount into the yearly budget to be held in an escrow just in case by some wild chance this thing fails.They would then have around 1.4 million to work with. So they would break even for about 12-14 years…
They would also have the option to go out and find another company to run it with another guarantee (7yrs)
Pepsi situation was not a partnership….nothing like what is happening in Hamburg.
Stats show partnership with towns, city’s dont fail…They are usually in the recreation atmoshpere.
Think out sid ethe box…We need to try somethings new people…
Think if this rink has lost an average of 100,000 dollars per year since it was built..???????
That would equal $35,000,000 of TAX PAYERS MONEY……..
Tom Best is in favor of this since the begining..Remember he campaigned for this.
Kevin is in favor of this to….
These guys have done wonders so far in this Town…They are just tring to save more Tax money….
Get out and Vote for this…..
I am not, but I am very close to him. I have spent a lot of time helping and working with him.
I think he will reach out to people soon with contact info. He wants people to ask questions and the correct answers to come out before they decide to go vote. He wants people to have the facts so they can go and vote on facts instead of feelings.
sports you are 100% right it is a win win for everyone, the taxpayers get a break, the town gets a state of the art facility that is badly needed, and the people who use the facility namly the Hamks get more ice time,lets get more details out to the public now and give every one a chance to see details,instaed of waiting and then taking the chance i will not pass, jeff if you read this keep up the great work, like sports said peaople need to start thinking outside the box
Sports Man,
Where are you getting your info about the code violations? … sounds like smoke and mirrors to me. Also, if you are as confident as you spew, you and Dave certainly shouldn’t have waited this long to proceed. There’s plenty of other real estate in this town, go for it. I wish you the best, but not on my dollar.
quabflo
I am not Jeff, but Jeff understands ur question. A private person can not do what you want. DONT FOR GET WE THE TAX PAYERS LOOSE AT LEAST $150,000 PER YR ON THIS FACILITY.
Way to much money and then the COST OF USING such a complex will be TRIPLE to what the proposed prices would be, just to cover the cost of doing such a complex from scratch.
If and I mean a huge IF someone did do what you want, what are we going to do with the current rink? We as tax payers just sunk 1.2 million into it for a new roof and new ice system just 10 years ago….Turn it into a warehouse, a building and grounds shop or a multi sport complex??? ….That would be a very expensive building for any of the ones mentioned….
This is a great opportunity for a community to have. We have a rink ready to add on to, we have the space to hold such a complex, we have the demand for such a complex, and we have a community to support such a complex.
This will be a destination for people to come to.
Coach keep spreading the word….people like you will help get this idea passed.
What a great time to do such a complex….cheap money from the banks( teamed up with the Town) Raw material is way down because of oil prices, construction firms are dying for work (bidding will be very competive) that will keep the cost in check.
Think what the cost of doing this project in 3 yrs from now….Come on we are not going to stay in this situation for ever….take the opportunity and run with it….
Sports that is an impressive sales pitch, but it is very high pressure, I would really like to hear the facts about this proposal, not just why you think the town should risk 9-11 million dollars on the sportsplex management expertise of an NHL hockey player, and an AHL hockey referee. Sports, especially hockey and lacrosse, are very important in Hamburg, and it would be convienent to have a nice sports complex in Hamburg, but why are the details being withheld until a week before a vote, why is there not more information about the risks to the taxpayers, so they can weigh their options. Where are the details, we are smart enough people, I think we can understand them. You say you are very close to jeff, please ask him to make all of the details available, not just the sales pitch, so that those of us who think inside the box have some say in how our money is being gambled.
The dates of the next two open meetings will be announced on Monday….They will not be 1 week before the vote.
Just remember we already pay for this complex as taxpayers and that is not fair…let the people that use it pay for it.
unsure you are right there are a lot of risks but there are risks in every day lives,like driving your car,you could have an accident, break down those are the risks we take eveyday, this project is a gaint risk we need more details i am a tax payer, i use the rink, i coach in the orginization that will benifit the most from the second sheet of ice,the gamble is to make this project succed not fail it can be done, this project would be a nice addition to the town,there are a lot of benifits that other businesses in the town would benifit from. there could be tournements ran not only in hockey but other sports as well I would love to see this pass. So sports let get Jeff andthe Town moving and getting the detail out so every one knows what they are proposing
Coach,
The risk of accident is covered by my insurance, I know how much that costs, and a break down is covered by my triple A, which I also know how much that costs. I understand the concept of risk, I just need to know how much this risk costs if something goes wrong. This would be a nice addition, but it also could be a huge catastrophe for taxpayers.
Also do we have any resumes from the three men behind Leaping LLC, that will show their qualfications for running a sports complex? I am looking for reasons to get behind this, but have not been given any, so at this point I vote no, until I can get some facts that show that this is not an extremely risky venture.
Wow, where does sportsman put his pom poms as he types ? Shamelessly shilling.
Just hope the guy on Lakeview Road doesn’t show up with all of his reports on the contaminated soils below the surface of the ice and current locker rooms.
They almost came to light but the Bush Administration had them listed as top secret. They became public on January 20th of this year. This part of this new transparent administration everyone asked for.
This is a quote from Unsure of facts/ #’s………….This would be a nice addition, but it also could be a huge catastrophe for taxpayers.
Come on we cant get worse then what the tax payers have to pay now…They loose every year at least $150,000 and add a bond to that we loose at least $230,000…and when we have to rebuild the locker rooms and lobby this summer when you people vote no…then we would loose $280,000 ish..
Sports Man said for at least the next 7 yrs we (Tax Payers) will save that amount…then multiply by 7yrs and we have a good bed to fall back on if they decide to give it back to the town….
People this is new and I think a great opportunity to try something new..it is not working now and this complex does nothing for our kids, economy, or our pocket books…..
assist coach, how do we know that it cannot be worse, if they give it back after 7 years, how much of the 9-11 million are we(tax payers) on the hook for?
It can get worse, it can always get worse, we do not know if this company can run this type of complex, and we do not know how much we will have to pay if they do not know what they are doing.
Lets see a resume from walker, lets hear his job history, he obviously is enthusiastic, but lets get some proof that he can manage a company, or run a business, or has some experience other than being a hockey referee, and having children who skate.
we elected these people in the town so we have to make sure they have done there homework (both parties).
Come on people…just like sports man said and coach has said…this project has come along way….and the only way to get to this point is that someone has looked into the whole proposal and idea…
This is a great idea…lets try it out…we cant loose much more then we do today…
And after 7 years the town can start looking for another company to run it if they decide to leave…..they have options people..plus we as taxpayers saved the loses for 7 years in the meen time….
I like the idea to think out side the box
I believe assit coach is sportsman. Why would you need to use two different names to promote this idea, if you know the details as you seemed to in your long sales pitch. Also referring to what you said earlier under a different name is wierd.
Why is the public being kept in the dark, and why is someone who is connected to the project using two names to pitch the project on a blog? Where are details, where are the resumes.
I ask for a resume and I am told to trust that everything is fine. I ask for numbers on the risk and am told that I take risks everyday.
If you cannot provide facts, please do not respond with a post that is trying to persuade me that I do not need to know the answers to the questions that I ask.
And constantly saying things like “come on people think outside the box”, “lets just do it”, “its time to take a risk”, “this is why the area suffers” are like bad lines out of an afterschool special about peer pressure. Usually peer pressure is only necessary for bad ideas.
according to the buffalo news it is going to vote April 28. lets get out and spread the word
lets get out and vote yes
I want to know why the delay in info on public hearings. We need facts and figures. Walker and walters should stop dragging their feet.