Done?

HMDA approved an increased interest rate for the Big Sandy Superstore Arena's bonds, from 7.5% to 8.5%. This would lower the actual amount of money the Arena would have to work with by $200,000-300,000, which in classic fashion is about how much it would cost to do all the ice work they wanted to do in the first place. WSAZ says, however, that they are looking to get a "lower" interest rate, so I don't know if 7.5% is still doable. If it is, then we're still looking at ice. If not... well I'll post something up here and a few other places in that case. I've had a rough go of it the last few weeks, and I have a nice little rant building up in me.

More press on that council meeting yesterday

Tony Rutherford, always on top of things:

...public comment generally centered on one item of the upgrade --- ice. Earlier Huntington’s Council had broadened a $300,000 ice hockey upgrade as an “infrastructure” upgrade, which could include ice skating or ice hockey, but does not commit the city to either option.

Public comment honed more on the skating option as well as the ability to books shows such as “Disney on Ice” or “Ice Capades.”

Roger Smith told council “if we have an ice skating facility, it makes another destination downtown. You would be surprised at the (community) commitment to public skating.”

Jim McClelland ,retired director of the Huntington Parks and Recreation Commission, told council that he’s interested in public recreation not offered in Huntington and the surrounding area. Previously, a speaker said that ice skaters have to travel to Charleston, WV or Athens, Ohio.

McClelland said that if economically viable “ice skating brings in more than hockey.” Noting that he once managed some of the largest outdoor ice skating facilities in the United States, McClelland noted that “ice hockey is affordable, family friendly recreation.”

Council Finance Director Steve Williams acknowledged the encouraging public comments regarding ice skating.

“Now, let’s see how the [possible $300,000 ice expenditure] creates a value proposition for the city and adds the civic arena as a destination,” Williams said.

Having McClelland on board with this was huge--as I relayed from Bill Sawyers last night, his comments "drained the color from Steve Williams's face".

Oh, one little bit of trivia--Roger Smith at one point was an interested party in putting a new hockey team in town earlier in the decade. Eenterresteengg...

BTW, the Herald-Dispatch has a story, but it's "print-only"--if someone can relay that over to me, please do. Elsewise this page will be a couple days behind on it. Sorry kids :^P

Passed unanimously

Only press so far, but with no mention of its passage. Some mention of the public commenting:

Talk of the ice rink spilled over into the public's comments during the City Council meeting.

Bill said those comments included former Greater Huntington Parks and Rec boss Jim McClelland, during whose comments "the color drained from Steve Williams's face".

I should have more to type on this tomorrow.

This will be interesting

The HISCO meeting on Monday will be a partial teleconference, as I will be unable to attend--they're calling for about a foot of snow starting Sunday night here in the Panhandle. Phone reception has been weird here lately though; I wonder how many times I'll have to call back in :^P

For your listening pleasure...

Bill Sawyers was on Paul Swann's show this evening--podcast here in case ya missed it!

Swampin' Steve

I had a correspondence with someone who had been emailing Huntington City Council regarding the ice equipment at BSSA; we both happen to have inside information regarding the previously-mentioned junior hockey prospects for Huntington, but his comes as the father of a midget hockey player who could potentially end up in Huntington if a team ends up there! He got a response from Steve Williams...

Thank you for taking time to reach out to me again about the proposed hockey improvements at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, WV.

I understand your passion for the sport and desire to return a professional hockey franchise to Huntington. I am concerned about borrowing $300,000, paying it back over 20 years and using it to support a venture that recently was not able to sustain itself for a decade. That being said, I have asked the Civic Arena management and the Mayor to determine the economic feasibility of spending money on "hockey infrastructure." If it can be determined that ice rink infrastructure creates a true value proposition by strategically positioning the Civic Arena as a destination point and establishes consistent entertainment opportunities not available in other arenas in the region...I will fully support the ice rink expenditures.

The difference in this conversation, in my estimation, is we are borrowing money. We must always be careful in how we spend public dollars. We must be even more diligent in our assessment when we are spending borrowed money.

As I said earlier, I understand and appreciate your desire for a hockey franchise. I will support the expenditure on "hockey infrastructure" if the economic feasibility can be demonstrated.

Thanks again for taking time to contact me.

The only difference between Steve's response to this hockey dad and his response to me is that mine included a single sentence acknowledging what he said to WSAZ about his skepticism of the hockey equipment provision. This tells me that he's resorting to form letters, meaning:

1. he's a hack, and
2. we're overloading them THAT MUCH.

Their contact pages are still down, by the way. Meantime, keep your ears peeled--Bill Sawyers will be on X106.3/107.1 sometime this week talking about HISCO with noted puck-head Erik.

Press for the meeting

Tony Rutherford has a write-up off the press release I cobbled together for the HISCO meeting on the 13th. A good read--but I have one problem...

Fans supporting ice hockey will meet (tentatively) Dec. 13 at 1 p.m.. in the Cabell County Library meeting room, said Lenny Sundahi, one of the organizers of The Huntington Ice Sports Coalition (HISCO).

My last name is Sundahl. In the digital age this is the new cool way to misspell my name. Seriously, the DMV did this not too long ago to me. But hey, I'll take the press however I can get it.

One other thing: the Facebook group address is wrong. This is my fault though; I figured that interpreting Facebook pages would pretty much be universal, but with the fan pages they add a bunch of redundant digits to the end. I will probably send out a correction/clarification with a TinyURL link.

New website coming soon!

Behold, the under-construction home of the Huntington Ice Sports Coalition--what myself and Bill Sawyers have elected to formalize this push of ours to get a new team in town. He's doing the work on that site--if anyone has any contributions of one sort or another, his email address--fittingly--is huntingtonhockey@aol.com.

(Want confusion? The address I set up for HISCO press releases is huntingtonhockey@gmail.com.)

Changing things around a little bit

The Facebook widget now goes to the newly-christened Huntington Ice Sports Coalition.