By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
This week, the City of Dundas and the City of Northfield took another major step in the new ice arena project. On Monday, the Dundas City Council approved the cost-sharing agreement between the two cities, and the following day, the Northfield City Council approved the deal, which both passed unanimously. The agreements provide more information about how the project is funded.
The agreement uses net tax capacity to keep tax levels the same across the two cities. This means a house in Northfield valued at $350,000 would pay the same taxes on the ice arena as a house in Dundas valued at $350,000. This means Northfield will fund 88% of the project, and Dundas will fund the remaining 12%. The agreement is for 20 years, and the rates are fixed, meaning Northfield pay 88% for the entire 20 years. At the Northfield City Council meeting, Public Works Director and City Engineer David Bennett cited transparency and clarity as the main reasons the rates did not change yearly.
Northfield and Dundas leadership have both been asked if they are concerned that one of the partners may back out of the agreement. Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig said that there are two reasons he is not concerned that Dundas will back out of the agreement. The first reason is the legally binding contract the two cities have signed, meaning that if Dundas failed to pay their portion of the agreement, Northfield could pursue legal action. However, Martig thought that the loss of trust would be more impactful than any legal action:
Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell noted that Dundas and Northfield are partners on many projects like the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue, the Mill Towns State Trail and other regional projects. In those partnerships, Pownell said the two cities have always maintained a good working relationship:
“We’ve been doing a lot of work to just really build those relationships, build trust and it would be foolish on anyone’s part to do anything to Disrupt that. I mean, it just really shows the strong connected professional we’re in this together. If you don’t have good relationships with your neighbors, that makes it far more difficult to work with one another, and the City of Dundas, Glenn Switzer, their council, Janelle Teppan, they’ve been doing just a really great job with their community.” – Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell on the KYMN Morning Show
Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer noted that the Dundas City Council has backed the ice arena project unanimously for months:
“we can’t even step back there. It was a unanimous vote. Without hesitation, there wasn’t any hesitation on our Council to be part of this.” – Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer on the KYMN Morning Show
Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen agreed with Swizter and Council:
“a new ice arena is a needed improvement in this community and and I’m excited and proud of the Dundas City Council for stepping up and understanding that and making it again an easy process to go through” – Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen on the KYMN Morning Show
The other two funding partners in the project are the Northfield Hockey Association and Northfield Public Schools. The hockey association has agreed to donate $2 million to the project and land for the ice arena. The school district has agreed to lease the facility for 20 years at $250,000 annually. The donation and school lease agreement will be approved in November. Bids for contracts will then be approved by the end of the year.
The new ice arena, is expected to cost $21 million and is expected to open in 2026.
