HEDDY SOROUR

The town of Carleton Place was forced to conduct emergency repairs at Arena 1 this year. The Arena’s four year old plate and frame chiller turned out to have a defect that was causing ammonia to mix with the brine that runs below the arena floor.

The system used at the Carleton Place arenas includes plates that have gaskets between them so the two refrigerants don’t cross each other. One of the plates had a blemish on it, which prevented a proper seal.

“So whoever manufactured the part didn’t catch the defect and we’re the unlucky ones that got the defective part,” clarified Mayor Toby Randall.

Town staff were able to negotiate a reduction on the replacement part with the manufacturer and the installer.

“This seems to be an issue with parts built during the pandemic and there have been a couple of other occasions throughout that we’ve identified and that’s why they [the manufacturer and installer] came to the table with a bit of a reduction,” Ross Rankin, property and project manager told Committee of the Whole on January 14.

The repair has been completed at a cost of $83,376.20, which will be funded through the 2024 year-end surplus, if any, or from the town’s strategic reserve.

“I just want to reassure the public that by catching this now, while money is needed to be spent, scheduled maintenance on that same system has now been pushed out from 2030 to 2034,” said Councillor Linda Seccaspina.