On Tuesday, January 21, at 7 p.m., the Ville de Coteau-du-Lac held an information session on the construction of a refrigerated skating rink and the adoption of a $4.5 million borrowing by-law to finance it. 

The event took place at the Wilson Community Centre and was aimed at unveiling the broad outlines of the project. Councillors Alain Laprade, François Décosse, André Legros, Isabelle Lemay and Christine Arseneault attended the public meeting. For their part, Coteau-du-Lac General Manager Jacques Legault, Director of Recreation, Culture and Community Life Véronique Cunche, Director of Engineering Michel Vaillancourt and Town Clerk Chantal Paquette spoke in turn during the evening to explain the various details of the project. 

The proposed borrowing by-law calls for a capital expenditure of $7,597,480, of which $3 million will be financed by unrestricted surpluses, and $4,597,480 by the borrowing by-law.

 “For the moment, there are no subsidy programs available, and I don't know if such programs could be put in place in the medium or long term”, stated Mayor Andrée Brosseau in the opening minutes of the meeting. 

A major project 

According to the elected officials, this new multi-purpose facility will offer citizens a refrigerated rink to the standard dimensions of the National Hockey League (NHL), i.e. 86 feet by 201 feet. A wooden roof will be installed to guarantee ideal conditions from mid-fall onwards, throughout the winter, for an extended skating season from November to April.

Activities will include free skating, free field hockey, free ringette, school visits, municipal events and more. 

Solutions will be put in place to reduce the noise impact of the refrigerated rink on local residents. These include insulating the boards and installing an anti-noise wall and vegetation. Parking spaces will be added in a later phase of the project.  

A controversial location 

According to information released by the city, the project will take place in Henri-Paul-Desforges park. The location chosen by the municipal administration to host the project prompted a number of comments from citizens who disagreed. 

For Noël Bélanger, who is 100% in favor of the project, the location is not optimal and, above all, not central. “The park is located 1 km from the pool. Normally, an infrastructure of this type is placed near a school. That's not the case here. In my opinion, the terrain Juteau would be a better location. Children could leave school at the end of the day and walk there to skate or play field hockey. Convenience stores, a gas station and even a grocery store are close by. It would be ideal. “

The Juteau lot is located near the Caisse Desjardins de Coteau-du-Lac, in the village core, bordering the Soulanges Canal bicycle path. Once contaminated, the land is now decontaminated and ready to receive a real estate or community project. “However, additional costs would have to be incurred to connect the lot to nearby municipal services,” says Michel Vaillancourt, Director of Engineering Services. 

Charles Gosselin also agreed, saying that the Juteau site would be an ideal location for the huge structure. “It would have a positive impact on nearby businesses and the school population. I believe that positioning the rink there would revitalize the village core and make it more dynamic. But could we take the time to evaluate the alternatives for the site? We could set aside the $3 million earmarked for the project and take the time to consider all the other site options. By locating it downtown, the day camp could use it for shelter on hot summer days. And maybe in a year or 18 months, subsidy programs will be available again?” ”  

Questioned by a citizen about the three sites selected in a study of the refrigerated ice rink project carried out by BC2, the Director of Engineering Services, Michel Vaillancourt, agreed to reveal them. They are Parc Paul-Henri-Desforges, Parc Geoffrion and Terrain Juteau. 

Another citizen, Stéphane Desrochers, father of two daughters aged 19 and 21, took the floor to express their concern about the $4.5 million borrowing by-law that Coteau-du-Lac wishes to contract. “The political and economic climate is uncertain, especially with the changing of the guard in the United States. Is this the right amount of money, at a time when inflation is at an all-time high, to embark on a project that will put us a few million dollars in debt?” 

For his part, Des Îles resident Benoit Claveau submitted an idea to the elected officials and municipal employees involved in the project. “Why not solicit local businesses to sponsor part of the project in exchange for visibility? For example, we could put their logo on the structure of the skating rink. It would be a good way of reducing the overall cost of the project. I think you could put the idea on the ice for a few months to make the approaches and test interest.” 

Positive feedback on the project was also shared with stakeholders. “I want to congratulate you on this wonderful and beautiful project. I'm a grandfather of nine, eight of whom play sports. I recently discovered the Saint-Zotique refrigerated skating rink and it's a place with a magical atmosphere. It's a great project and well worth the effort. It's your role as an elected official to propose projects like this, which we don't think about as citizens,” emphasized Luc Steben.  

For Simon Dessureault of Rue des Mésanges, the current political and economic uncertainty and fear shouldn't put the brakes on the project. “If we wait for the right moment, it will never come. In 2020, it was the pandemic and today it's something else. I have a six-year-old daughter, and this weekend I was at the Saint-Zotique refrigerated skating rink. There were a lot of young people from Coteau-du-Lac and their families there. To me, it's a sign that the rink would meet a need in the community.”

Luc Isabelle, a committed citizen living on Route 201, also shared his opinion of the project. “It's a great project that will get our young people moving. When I was a municipal councillor in 2013, we considered building a refrigerated skating rink at the time. It cost between $2 and $3 million. I'm quite involved in ice sports in the region, and I can confirm that we've seen an increase in participation in these disciplines in recent years. There are no more ice hours available at the Saint-Polycarpe arena. If it comes to fruition, this project would keep our young people away from TV, cell phones and tablets, and get them moving.” 

Following these various comments, Mayor Brosseau specified that they would be taken into consideration for the continuation of the project.  

Keeping the register

Like all borrowing by-laws, the refrigerated rink by-law is governed by the Cities and Towns Act and must be approved by the electorate. The register allows all Coteau-du-Lac citizens to express their disagreement. Should a sufficient number of objections be received, the municipality may submit the by-law to a referendum or abandon it. Otherwise, the by-law will be approved.

In closing, the information session on January 21 is the next step in the file. Adoption of the borrowing by-law is scheduled for February 11, 2025, while the register will be held at the Town Hall on February 25, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The call for tenders should be launched in March 2025, while the award of the turnkey contract should be approved at the meeting of April 8, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. Construction is scheduled to start next May, with the first skaters expected in autumn 2026. These dates are subject to change, subject to approval of the borrowing by-law.

A total of 314 signatures are required to stop the adoption of the borrowing by-law. If this number is reached, the city will have two choices: hold a referendum on the issue or stop the process.