Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Warren County’s Occupancy Tax committee approved on Monday a $200,000 request from the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition to help fund the design phase to replace the ice chilling machinery and machine room of the Harding Mazzotti Arena in Glens Falls.
It matches the $200,000 the City of Glens Falls committed.
The vote was unanimous, but discussion was mixed.
Queensbury At Large Supervisor Mike Wild questioned whether the committee should provide $200,000 when the Civic Center Coalition does not yet know how they will fund cost of construction, estimated at between $5- and $7-million.
Jeff Mead, the Arena Manager, and Ed Moore, representing the Civic Center Coalition that runs the arena, said the engineering study is required to seek outside grant funding for the construction phase.
Mr. Mead said the cooling system and other infrastructure are “failing.”
He said, “If the ice goes away, there’s no hockey, and there’s no building.”
Mr. Moore said, “There’s a real urgency here.” He said the Arena generates $22-million in regional economic impact.
Gary Thornquist of Lake George RV Park, Laura Kohls of the Lake George Courtyard Marriott and other Kenny family properties, Hague Supervisor Josh Patchett and Mr. Wild questioned whether funding an engineering design is outside the scope of the County’s Oc Tax law.
The tax was intended to support tourism promotion, Mr. Thornquist said.
“From an outside view it seems there is some confusion on the part of even the supervisors here on what the Ocupancy Tax is even for, the law or how it effects everything” he said, after the committee approved the expenditure.
“It seems the law gets bent when it seems urgent. I would strongly support we put some firm guardrails on what it can be spent on. I don’t understand this double standard,” as some events are denied.
Glens Falls Ward 1 County Supervisor Jack Diamond, not a committee member, applauded the $200,000 expenditure.
“In 2014,” when he was Glens Falls Mayor, he said, “I was ready to shut the building,” due to the City’s cost to run it.
At the time, the Civic Center Coalition formed to run the arena, purchasing it for $600,000, paid over four years, Mr. Moore recalled on Monday.
Queensbury Supervisor John Strough, Glens Falls Ward 3 Supervisor Nancy Turner and Thurman Supervisor Deb Runyon argued, in Mr. Strough’s words, “What would our little world be without the Civic Center?
“The Civic Center has a regional impact,” Mr. Strough said.
The Coalition’s paperwork said, “Our current Ice Pro Chiller Plant was installed in 1999 using a freon refrigerant” that in 2020 was banned in the United States. Freon is now “in the phase-out process, due to its ozone deleting properties.”
“We can only purchase reclaimed or recycled refrigerant at this time,” said the materials. It said the cost has risen from $20 to $30, to $100 to $200 per pound.
Mr. Mead said, “Our system requires 5,000 pounds to function properly and keep the ice surface frozen. It’s costing us $450,000 to $500,000 a year.”
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