MINTO – The price of cleaning the ice has gone up over the last few years, Minto council has learned.
Council approved the purchase of a new Olympia ice resurfacer from Resurface Corp. for $117,944, plus HST.
The bid was higher than one from Zamboni Company Ltd. at $100,190, but a staff report notes the Resurface Corp bid met all the specifications on the tender, while the Zamboni bid met only some of the requirements.
The Town of Minto currently has two ice resurfacers, which were purchased in 2012 and 2018.
“The unit purchased in 2012 is aging and a replacement ice resurfacer is an approved capital project in 2024,” notes the report from the community services department. The report points out the new Olympia is the same model as the unit purchased in 2018.
“This will benefit staff as it will standardize the equipment to be used at the Harriston arena and Palmerston arena,” the report states.
Councillor Ed Podniewicz asked if there was potential for income by selling advertising on the new machine.
“In Palmerston … we’ve got some wraps on the machine, one on each side. So there would be the potential to wrap this one as well,” replied director of community services Matt Lubbers.
Mayor Dave Turton asked how the price of the new machine compared with the cost when the town last purchased an ice resurfacer.
“That was in 2018 … I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000 to $90,000 at that time. But certainly the costs have gone up for these types of machines in the last five years,” said Lubbers.
