An application to build a new dressing room for the Carrot River Outback Thunder connected to the arena has been denied.
Carrot River council unanimously voted to deny the application at its Feb. 21 meeting. Coun. Mike Livermore, a member of the Prairie Junior Hockey League team’s board, was not in the room due to a conflict of interest.
They voted against the proposal because there were concerns about the team’s commitment to the town.
“The biggest reason why they unanimously voted to deny was lack of community involvement,” said Bob Gagné, Carrot River’s mayor. “We don’t see the team visible enough in the community.”
Miranda Blaber, the town’s recreation director, said the team has no practices booked in Carrot River for the months of January, February and March. The team used to practice at the arena once per week – twice when the Arborfield and Zenon Park arenas didn't have ice in the fall back when the team was a tri-town affair.
The team told council back in April 2017 the room would cost $40,000, plus donations of materials and labour. Council told the team they were hoping to see a more solid figure – something the team had not yet come up with but was expecting to do so after an engineered blueprint was completed.
Kevin Trew, the town’s administrator, said the area’s recreation board did recommend council move forward with the application, saying that from their point of view, the extra operational costs would be worth it.
“That wasn’t the issue that council, who has to do the due diligence, that wasn’t what they were questioning,” he said. “[Council is] tasked with looking out for the town’s future and at this point, council said the Thunder isn’t showing the type of commitment to this community that makes them feel comfortable going forward and putting up a room.”
When asked if council would revisit the issue, Gagné said due to the unanimous vote, there would be a hard time to bring it back to the table.
