HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-02-10
Newcastle Memorial Arena Management Board
Minutes – February 10, 2026 - 7:00 p.m.
Newcastle Memorial Arena
Present: Todd Taylor - Chair /Treasurer Jim Vinson - Vice Chair
Josh Turner – Manager Councilor Margaret Zwart
Mark Stahler Joshua Macdonald
Absent with Notice: Shea-Lea Latchford – Secretary, Sue White, Jennifer Stycuk
1. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest – There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.
2. Land Acknowledgment Statement – Todd Taylor
3. Adoption of Agenda - Motion #26-004 - Moved by Jim Vinson, seconded by Mark Stahler
THAT: The agenda be accepted.
CARRIED
4. Adoption of Minutes – Motion #26-005 – Moved by Jim Vinson, seconded by Margaret
Zwart THAT: The minutes of January 13, 2026, be accepted as presented.
CARRIED
5. Manager’s Report (copy attached) Highlights discussed include 1. Olympia failure on
January 11th. Back up not immediately available from Municipality but was sent over the next
day. Resurfice was able to do the repair - rentals were impacted on Sunday and Monday.
Natural gas hook-up installed for this type of emergency was evaluated and worked. 2. Jan
25th - Andrew Mercer (MoC) phoned Josh Turner around 8:30 AM to inform him that all
arenas in Clarington as well as Orono would be closing due to weather, followed suit at 1:30
PM 3. Lone Worker system installed and began testing with Sage .4. Need to purchase a snow
blower for arena staff use, still looking into options.5. Various repairs happened to door
handles and AODA buttons that were fixed. 6. Josh had a staff meeting Jan 19th with all
operators and went over policies with them. 7. MoC looking into stairwell heating options and
recommended getting the floor pit in ice resurfacer room drained 8. TSSA follow-up items
posted as required. 9. Cimco Maintenance Meeting was held on site Jan 28th with former site
Mechanic & Account Manager.
6. Financial Report – Todd provided a copy of actuals vs. budget thus far for 2026. Motion #26-
006 – Moved by Mark Stahler, seconded by Jim Vinson THAT: The proposed 4-year Cimco
Maintenance Contract staring April 1, 2026, be accepted as presented.
CARRIED
Motion #26-007 – Moved by Mark Stahler, seconded by Margaret Zwart THAT: The proposal
to spend up to 10K as a budgetary amount on the Refrigeration System for Cimco to replace
the damaged PLC digital screen be accepted as presented.
CARRIED
7. Risk Management Risk walkarounds took place Feb 6 with Josh Turner and Joshua
MacDonald. Most of the outstanding items were corrected or completed.
8. Business Arising from Previous Minutes
a. 75th Anniversary 2026 – Mark Stahler will follow up with Tim Hortons on snacks for
the Family Day free skate and confirm timing of speakers at the start of the event.
b. External Signage – James Signs was on site and installed signage on the W side of the
building. The E signage above the main entrance was halted as the wall was not painted
under the old sign. This will be addressed in better weather. James Signs also installed
the 75th Anniversary logo in a snap frame on the outside block wall beside the main
entrance. This is a multi-purpose frame that can be utilized for multiple arena events
and trade shows. Removal of the NW signage was discussed but was not removed
during this visit. The Board discussed the importance of signage on all sides of the
building including a refresh on the NW signage and South side signage that will be
revisited and discussed next meeting.
c. Connectivity Improvements - Councillor Zwart was able to set Mark Stahler up for
discussions with MoC on this initiative. Mark updated the Board on what he has learned
after meeting with MoC CIO and Treasurer and has advised the Board that we can
participate in an existing MoC Capital Project to improve connectivity at NMA and
ultimately connect to the MoC sites. Motion #26-008 – Moved by Todd Taylor,
seconded by Joshua MacDonald THAT: The proposal to spend up to $600 a month for
the Network Connection Service Fee (includes construction and future support costs)
be accepted as presented.
CARRIED
d. Board Member Vacancy – Jennifer Stycuk from MoC confirmed there have been no
applicants for the vacancy yet, she asked the Board and partner organizations to share
the post on social media. Board Grants - Jennifer also provided an update confirming
Grant funding from 2025 will be processed for the Newcastle Memorial Arena and the
arena will be included in the group applications for 2026.
9. New Business
a. Todd Taylor presented the Working Alone Policy that he sought approval
from the Board for field validation of the document, Arena Manager and
Board Member feedback will be accepted for updates to the Policy
between meetings with the intent of Final Approval acceptance at the
March 10, 2026, Board Meeting. Motion #26-009 – Moved by Councilor
Margaret Zwart, seconded by Jim Vinson THAT: The Working Alone
Policy be approved for validation on February 10, 2026, and accepted as
presented.
CARRIED
b. Mark Stahler will continue to work with LiveBarn with updates on the
most recent connectivity developments and for pre-contractual discussions
to take place with the goal of establishing a target date for an
implementation plan and project completion timeline.
10. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:33 p.m.
Next Board Meeting, Tuesday, March 10, 2026
7:00 p.m. – Newcastle Memorial Arena
Newcastle Memorial Arena Managers Report
Date: February 10th, 2026
Safety / Training
On ice incidents
Off ice incidents
Employee Safety/Concerns
Safety Training
Emergency Preparedness
- Jan 11th - I received a call around 10am from Dylan letting
me know the Olympia had smoke coming out of the ignition
area and that it wasn’t starting - I went to the arena
immediately to inspect - Jen Stycuk and Jason Muir were
called ASAP and informed about everything going on with the
potential of getting a loaner from them - Jen advised me to
shut down the arena for the night - all groups were called to
make aware of the arena closing - Todd was called as well
- Tom from Resurfice came in the following morning to try
and fix it - no luck for 6 hours - a loaner olympia was sent
over from Courtice around 5pm from Jen and Jason - the
loaner was natural gas so we tested out our natural gas
system (very easy and everything worked) - Dave from
Resurfice showed up the following morning and fixed our
olympia - loaner sent back to MoC - Todd phoned to give all
the details - incident report made - everything working well
again
- Jan 25th - Andrew Mercer (MoC) phoned me around 830am
to inform me that all arenas in Clarington as well as Orono
would be closing down due to weather - I decided it was best
to follow this decision and close down our operations at
130pm - Todd informed right away about the decision - all ice
groups called to let them know about this
Safety Training:
- Jan 14th 12pm - 1pm - WEBINAR: ORFA and Intact Public
Entities (IPE) to Release a Recreation Risk Management
Awareness Manual - COMPLETED
- Jan 22nd - Robert from Leavitt Safety stopped by to do
some tests/training with the Lone Worker Safety Device - all
signals/tests were received
- Jan 30th - James from Sage/Armstrong stopped by to install
an antenna for the fire panel/LWSS to get better signals as
we have really poor reception - coordinated by MoC
- I have been wearing the LWSS around to familiarize myself
with it and get used to it - have wore it on the olympia 3 times
now
Risk Management
Concerns
Items Completed
- Feb 5th - Risk / Health and Safety Inspection with Joshua
ITEMS COMPLETED:
- Completed the Jan Fire equipment monthly - reported in red
book
- AED weekly and monthly reports completed
- monthly walk around checklist completed
- Shower Clips mounted in dressing room 1 and 2
- SW rink exit door latch fixed
- sharp door frames filed down as best as possible - will keep
an eye on these
- caution strip placed in front of upstairs furnace door
ITEMS TO BE COMPLETED/CONCERNS
- New Fire Extinguisher tags (a bunch have fallen off) - EPI to
drop some off next time they are at the arena or in the area
- one of the front door push bars is not letting us lock or
unlock properly
- Dressing room 1 door not closing fully - could be bent
hinges
- Dressing room 2 accessible buttons not working properly
- Dressing room 5 handle damaged/loose
- Both stairwell doors to the outside of the arena need new
sweepers and siding - stairwells very cold because of this
- dressing room hallway light cover broken - might have
leftovers from the renos
Rentals/Revenue
New Rentals
Loss of Rentals
Later Payments
Signs/Advertising
Vending
- loss of rentals due to us being closed or the Olympia being
down
- Tuesday morning group 7am - 8am booked for the rest of
the year
- some new rentals over the March Break have been booked
- our schedule is fully updated on our website, so hopefully
we get some catchcorner bookings throughout the March
Break
- Shelby to post our rates on our website
- All Jan invoices were sent out
- Dance storage for Sept - Dec 2025 billed out - dance
storage for Jan - Aug 2026 billed out
- Futuresign billed for Jan - March 2026 quarterly
- have a call with Sunspace about more rink advertising
either this week or next
- Phoned Elliott Insurance about rink Ad - haven’t heard back
from them
- Jeff from Sunnyside gave me his banking info for direct
deposit - will send it over to Todd and Adam
- another vending cheque was delivered to us
- Jan 28th - 75th Anniversary sign has been installed by front
door - I decided to go with a snap frame so that it can be
used for future events or advertising - not a one time thing
anymore
- a new vending machine has been proposed to us by
canteen - just going over the details with Canteen about this -
details will be sent to Todd and hopefully a call
- I will see if Canteen is willing to have an in-person meeting
like we had with CIMCO - Todd and I
Repairs
Maintenance
Renovations
What has to be repaired
What needs to be repaired
Snow/Ice Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance
Efforts to Maintain
Appearance
Renovations
Improvements
What got fixed:
- heater in electrical/tool room fixed
- NW stairwell door
- SW rink exit door latch
- Olympia ignition switch
What needs to be fixed:
- front door push bar - locking mechanism not working
- dressing room #1 door doesn’t close properly
- dressing room 2 accessible buttons not working the way
they should
- Dressing room #5 door - Handle is loose/damaged
- Heat in Stairwells - MoC is looking at adding new siding and
sweepers to the doors - Plan B might be to add wall mounted
heaters
Snow/Ice Maintenance:
- snow removal on all outside doors done when applicable
- salt all walkways and door ways when necessary
- Sunnyside has been salting and plowing our parking lot
- Jan 14th - MoC parking lot snow removal
- Jan 30th - MoC parking lot snow removal
Staff
- Jan 19th - Staff Meeting - went over safety procedures and
general maintenance up-keep
- all employees were told if they are seen by myself or
anyone else without a helmet on the ice they will not work for
a week
- operators to let me know if someone doesn’t wear their
helmet
- All staff have been warned not to unplug or touch the Lone
Worker Safety Device in the office - have talked to operators
about wearing this if they are alone at the arena (90% of the
time I am the only one alone)
- will go over LWSS during next staff meeting
Inspections
Municipal
Operations
TSSA / other Regulatory
Inspections must be
reviewed with Arena Board
- Jan 13th - MoC Health and Safety Inspection - No items
found
- Jan 20th - TSSA COI’s for Boilers and Pressure Vessels
posted in the refrigeration room - next expiration date is 2028
- Jan 20th - Email sent to TSSA (Ajeesh) about the order
being completed
Complaints
Neighbours
Customers
- No Neighbour complaints
ORFA Updates
New Guidelines etc
appropriate for our facility /
operations
ORFA GUIDELINES:
- No new ORFA Guidelines
OTHER
- Jan 15th - Exterior signage finalized with Rick James - all
the lettering is produced - just waiting for a warmer day for
installation
- Jan 16th - Brents Plumbing came in to fix clogged drain in
refrigeration room - bigger problem than anticipated - will go
more in detail during meeting
- Jan 21st - CIMCO monthly inspection - installed new relief
valves
- Jan 21st - T&C Small Engine emailed about quote for snow
blower - got a call from him but haven’t heard or received
anything since then - will follow up
- New Filters purchased for dehumidifiers
- Keith (MoC) - stopped by on Jan 27th - informed him about
the cold stairwells - Kevin (MoC HVAC) came in that same
day to look at what could be wrong - steps in place to get this
fixed
- Jan 28th - Meeting with Todd, Josh Ford and Jeremy
Gradante (CIMCO) - electrical panel and condenser tank
valve to be quoted
- Jan 29th - Meeting with Jim Vinson
- Jan 29th - Olympia blades dropped off and 2 blades picked
up
- Feb 4th - December and January CIMCO monthly
inspection reports sent out
- email to be sent out to Cole (CIMCO) about ammonia
exposure procedure
- Olympia Oil change scheduled for next week
- told by MoC to get our Olympia room pit drained
HELP/FOLLOW UP
Things I need help with or
Looking for answers
+
Follow up
*talk about during meeting*
- No help needed as of right now