Stowe prepares for town meeting: Rink headed for vote; debate rages

It’s in voters’ hands now.

As expected, town-meeting voters will get another crack at approving a replacement for Stowe’s aging Jackson Arena ice rink.

The $6.5 million plan is the latest proposal for rebuilding the 1974 rink, which is near failure, town officials say. A similar proposal failed at last year’s town meeting, 733-684.

For the past year, debate over the rink project has been expansive, detailed, and sometimes heated and emotional. Proponents say Stowe needs a high-quality rink; critics question the $6.5 million price in a weak economy.

The debate carried into the Stowe Select Board meeting Monday, for a lengthy discussion of the wording in the informational flyer that the town government plans to send to residents ahead of the vote.

The board agreed to make some minor changes to clarify the issue for voters, but it’s clear that differences over the rink mean almost any detail can become the subject of an argument.

The plan

Voters will be asked to approve a $6.5 million bond to rebuild the rink on its current site on Depot Street in Stowe village.

Town Manager Charles Safford says the bond, including interest, would cost $9,102,380, spread over 20 years. Plans are to draw $350,000 a year from the town’s local-option sales tax on rooms, meals and alcohol to help cover $7 million of the debt payments, leaving $2,102,380 to be covered by property taxes.

Those numbers are estimates; actual costs depend on the interest rate the town can get when the bonds are sold, Safford said.

In its most expensive year, 2014, the bond payments would add $23.88 to the property-tax bill for a $300,000 house. Payments would decline in succeeding years.

The town recreation department would run the rink, though town officials haven’t firmed up how it will operate, what the fees will be, and similar details.

The debate

Since last summer, heated and occasionally personal debates have raged at select board meetings.

The rink plan comes from an independent committee of business owners, hockey parents and citizens, called the Ad-Hoc Committee, which has been holding meetings and handing out information.

The group argues that, when voters rejected the rink last year, they weren’t clear on the details. The group says the rink could bring lucrative hockey tournaments to town, boosting business for hotels and restaurants that have been hurt by the economic recession.

Some residents, including Ed Frey, Bruce Harmon, David Jaqua and Marc Segal, argue the plan is too expensive and being pushed forward at the wrong time.

Four of the five select board members support the rink plan; the fifth, Larry Lackey, worries that using the local option tax to pay rink debt for 20 years will push other projects into the regular budget, upping bills for taxpayers.

The board was expected to officially warn the rink vote Thursday morning, after the Stowe Reporter went to press.