Rink, therapy pools would pay down debt on Ice Palace

The purchase price and first phase for the Ocean Ice Palace property project would cost the average homeowner an additional $1.05 a year, or 8.7 cents each month, Brick Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said.

"If it wouldn't pay for itself, we wouldn't even fathom the idea of voting yes on it," Councilman Michael Thulen said at the May 27 Township Council meeting. "I want to make that perfectly clear. I've always said it's a no-brainer. Apparently [there are] people out there that don't think like me."

Thulen made the comments after Pezarras outlined the cost and revenue projections of the controversial project during a detailed presentation at the meeting. The estimates were based on numbers provided by the township architect and engineers, who used data from three previous feasibility studies for a township community center, he said.

"This administration has not done any of those studies," Pezarras said. "We relied on existing studies."

Township officials are focusing on moneymakers like the existing ice rink and three therapy pools that would be built in the first phase of the project to help pay down debt service and reduce operating costs, he said.

"We are going to be looking at putting income-generators on the site first," Pezarras said.

Council members introduced a $9.9 million ordinance early last month to prepare for the purchase of the ice rink and the 13.34-acre site on Chambers Bridge Road.

The ordinance included the original $5.25 million purchase price for the site, which includes a separate building, which was used by visiting hockey teams, and a 25-yard outdoor pool.

The remaining $4.7 million in the new bond ordinance includes funds for repairs to the ice rink building and roof, therapy pools, a senior center, improvements to the parking lot and landscaping, Pezarras said.

Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis asked Pezarras if the proposal included any of a previous conceptual plan that called for two ice rinks and a four-story parking garage. The group Stop OverSpending (SOS), which has called for a referendum on the purchase, has the plan posted on its Web site.

No, Pezarras said.

"It was a concept," Pezarras said. "Just to see what the maximum buildout would be. We wanted to show them what the potential was. The only reason you would need a parking garage would be if youmaximize the potential buildout of the site, and that would be decided by the people."

There is a need for therapy pools in Brick, which has a large senior citizen population and a big sports community, he said.

"The hospital [OceanMedical Center] is a major draw," Pezarras said. "We need a lot of therapy pools."

The only therapy pools in the area are the Atlantic Club in Wall Township and Life Centers in Point Pleasant, Pezarras said.

"They are all booked up," he said. "They don't have enough therapy pools."

Based on industry standards, the therapy pools would generate a net profit of $429,995 a year. The net profit from the operating ice rink would be $307,170 a year, he said.

The annual debt service on the project would be roughly $770,000. Once the net profits from the ice rink and therapy pools are added into the mix, that would leave $33,000 in annual debt service from the project, Pezarras said.

That would translate into $1.05 for the average household each year, or 8.7 cents each month, he said.

"We may be low-balling the revenue potential of it," Scaturro said.

"I always take a conservative approach," Pezarras said.

The township currently pays roughly $40,000 to rent space from the VFW on Adamston Road for the senior center. That would stop if a new senior center were built on the Ice Palace property. The money spent for rent could then be applied to the $33,000 left in debt service, leaving a net profit of $7,000, he said.

The precast concrete roof on the ice rink building is structurally sound. But the foamcoating on the roof is leaking in spots, Pezarras said in a later interview.

There would be several therapy pools, with different temperatures, to accommodate the needs of the residents, he said.

The Ice Palace property purchase is not about the ice rink, Pezarras said.

"We're buying real estate, not a business," he said. "We are not buying it for the business value."

If the purchase goes through, township officials will then survey residents to determine what else they would like at the community center, Pezarras said. The township will probably use an online survey tool called SurveyMonkey. com to gather public input.

Anyone without a computer could request a paper survey, he said.