City’s efforts to help skaters on thin ice

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This article was published 05/10/2021 (1609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An attempt to ensure Winnipeggers are formally allowed to skate on retention ponds appears to have skidded to a halt.

But the push for more ice surfaces continues.

At city council’s request, the public service asked 21 community centres and neighbourhood associations located close to the ponds if they’d be willing to maintain rinks for winter sports, such as by ensuring a minimum ice thickness.

None expressed interest in doing so, the report found.

It’s no surprise community centres generally appear to have little appetite to take on another task as they cope with COVID-19 pandemic pressures, said Lora Meseman, executive director of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres.

“For the last 20 months… they haven’t been doing their (full) programming and they haven’t been able to rent their facilities, so they’re not earning the additional income they would normally be earning… So to take on the additional responsibility of a retention pond, I imagine, is not feasible right now and may not be feasible in the future,” said Meseman.

A previous city review on retention pond use concluded city officials should continue to warn Winnipeggers to stay off the ice over safety risks. That triggered a second attempt to find ways for the city to officially allow skating on the storm retention basins behind some backyards, even as city officials warned against it.

The warnings stress snowmelt or water main breaks mixed with street salts drains into the ponds and can cause ice to melt and thin, which may not be visible from the surface.

Despite the reluctance so far, one councillor hopes the city will instead let folks skate at their own risk.

Coun. Janice Lukes said the use of retention ponds for skating, hockey and other recreation is highly valued on the 40 such locations in her rapidly growing Waverley West ward, which typically has just two pleasure rinks (on land).

“People have been skating on retention ponds for decades… Put up a sign, relinquish the city from the risk, and then give me some funding for pleasure rinks,” said Lukes.

City staff also costed out a few skating rink options. The report estimates it would cost the city nearly $52,000 per year to create five new pleasure rinks, which can be added on grass and other solid surfaces.

If the city instead created the five rinks on retention ponds, testing them for ice thickness would cost more than $29,000, which would raise the total cost to almost $82,000, plus the price of new equipment, the report says.

Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of the water and waste committee, said the estimates offer some affordable options.

“It doesn’t seem that expensive. On the other hand, the staff are still saying the (pond rinks are) not something we recommended for safety reasons (so we must consider that),” said Mayes. “The compromise might be that, if some wards are underserved for rinks, we could probably add a couple of (on-land pleasure) rinks.”

He said councillors must not only consider the fact so many Winnipeggers clear rinks on retention pond rinks each year but also the basis behind the safety warnings.

“No one wants to be the person who approved something and then have a fatality,” said Mayes.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga