The Tupper Lake Central School District announced this past Wednesday that it plans to temporarily repair the old, and currently inoperable, chilling vessel at the civic center this season, according to Superintendent Jaycee Welsh.

The district also plans to eventually purchase a new unit, replacing the current chilling vessel, which has made the civic center inoperable, after this season. Welsh said this will allow for more reliable ice production for upcoming seasons.

The civic center is owned and operated by the TLCSD. The broken unit was discovered on Oct. 17 when district staff were getting ready for ice production.

Plans for temporary repairs and an eventual new unit became possible following donations from the community. Welsh said the district did not have the funds in their approved budget this year to cover the costs.

Tupper Lake Central School District Athletic Director Hayden LaMere provides an update on the hockey team’s schedule in lieu of ice at the Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center, where the team would typically practice. LaMere spoke at the district’s Nov. 4 board of education meeting held at the L. P. Quinn Elementary School. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

“We’re incredibly grateful for these generous donations,” she said.

The temporary repairs are expected to cost $50,000, which Welsh said an unnamed donor has pledged to cover.

The new unit was expected to cost about $165,000, Welsh wrote in a text message last week. She said the district has received pledges amounting to $150,000 — not including the temporary repair costs pledge — and believed someone would make a pledge to cover the remaining cost.

“Hopefully they will come through,” she said Tuesday.

Welshe was not at liberty, yet, to reveal the donors but she described them as organizations that care about the TLCSD students and community. She said the district hopes to announce the donors by Friday.

The Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center, which is owned and operated by the Tupper Lake Central School District, is seen on Oct. 27. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

Although the board has not yet approved the donation, Welsh said that the TLCSD has begun the search process for purchasing the new unit, citing the desire to move quickly and be ready to order as soon as possible, if given approval.

Pre-ice plans

At the district’s Nov. 4 regular board of education meeting, prospects for ice at the civic center this season appeared uncertain — if not, dire.

TLCSD Athletic Director Hayden LaMere briefed the board and members of the public, which included a group of players and parents associated with the Tupper Lake varsity hockey team, about the district’s then plans, for this season.

LaMere said the district had made a “makeshift” schedule through Jan. 1, for its boy’s ice hockey team — the TLCSD does not have a girl’s ice hockey team — by working with the Saranac Lake Civic Center and Olympic Center, in Lake Placid, to schedule ice time.

LaMere said options were limited, but that the practice slots amounted to 1 hour and 15 minutes of practice time per scheduled game. He said the district was working to move all games, through the end of this calendar year, to away arenas.

“We’re not sure if or when the ice is going to be back in,” he said. “This way, we can at least get the season started.”

Until the scheduled repairs are completed, the district’s contingency plan will remain as is, according to Welsh.

“We are looking forward to a better estimation of time once the company is on-site,” she said.

If the repairs are completed and the ice is suitable, Welsh said the schedule may be adjusted.

She emphasized that the repair timeline hinges on what the company — Mollenberg-Betz — assesses this week. The Buffalo-based company is scheduled to complete the first stage of repairs, according to Welsh, who said Hogan Refrigeration, a Peru, New York-based company would perform the second and separate stage of repairs.

“Ideally, we would like the rink to be open before Jan. 1, but we just don’t know with repairs,” Welsh said.

Donation process and

policies

The donation acceptance is not yet official, according to Welsh. It must be formally approved by a majority vote of the board of education at their next meeting, according to Welsh. However, she noted that she made a verbal — but non-binding — commitment to the prospective donors, and thanked them for their generosity.

The next TLCSD board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2 in the L.P. Quinn Elementary School’s library. Welsh said the board may hold a special meeting beforehand to vote on accepting the donations, but did not yet have a specific potential date in mind.

Welsh said that the TLCSD has a policy around accepting donations.

“We can’t accept any gift, grant or bequest which constitutes a conflict of interest or gives an appearance of impropriety,” she said. “At the same time, we need to make sure that we’re safeguarding the district staff and students from commercial exploitation from any special interest groups.”

Welsh added that the policy prohibited the district from accepting donations that could present “unreasonable” hidden or future costs that the TLCSD would eventually have to cover.

Before giving her verbal acceptance, she ensured the donations were in accordance with the school’s policy. Welsh was confident that the district could and would accept these.

Welsh said that the TLCSD worked “very” quickly to review the donation, as they felt it was a top priority for the district to address. She felt it was important to let the community know of this tentative acceptance as soon as possible, given the large number of students, community members and visitors who were disrupted by the rink’s shutdown.

“The fact that this was accomplished in a very short amount of time should be an indication on how important this is to TLCSD,” the district’s press release stated.

Once the order is placed, the unit has a 12 to 14-week arrival time, according to Welsh. She said an installation time is not yet known.

Welsh said the district will likely wait until after ice season, provided the temporary repair is successful, to install the new chilling unit to limit any further ice time disruption.

“Our hope is we will be able to finish out the season with the repairs,” she said. “It would take a significant amount of work getting a new chilling vessel installed. We wouldn’t want to be right in the middle of the season and have to pause it for however long it takes to get that installed.”