Discussions

Minnedosa Town Council and members of the MREC, Minnedosa Regional Events Centre, committees continue to work towards the future building of a new NHL sized hockey arena. let me say at the outset of this discussion that I think the project will cost too much and benefit too few to justify its construction. The existing arena should be renovated. Nonetheless, I respect the fact that current council has the right to move forward on MREC as our democratically elected representatives. Council also has the obligation to do so in a transparent manner within the confines of their own rules and policies.  
As of the November 2016 financial statement, http://minnedosa.allnetmeetings.com/pubs/publicAgenda.aspx?aId=C8013279-8F4A-486D-A1B7-E8ECBF24DC71#  
the Arena Reserve balance stood at 1.524 million dollars. On January 10, 2017 council passed second and third reading of the MREC borrowing bylaw, http://minnedosa.allnetmeetings.com/pubs/publicAgenda.aspx?aId=C8013279-8F4A-486D-A1B7-E8ECBF24DC71# authorizing the borrowing authority of 3.5 million in the event of MREC's construction. Had council not passed 2nd and 3rd reading on January 10th the existing by-law would have been rescinded by legislation within the provincial municipal act on February 10th, two years after its first reading. Council passed the borrowing by-law to avoid having to go through the borrowing by-law process again, according to an email from the town's ACAO, Chris Yuen. As of December 2016 according to CRA charities listings, http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html private fundraising amounted to 1.1 million in cash assets and financial commitments.  
In short, MREC has immediate access to 6.125 million, before additional fundraising and provincial/federal funding are received. It's certainly enough to build an arena, but not enough to build the one members of council and MREC committees have envisioned. Using the round figure of 1,000 households, the projected borrowing interest rate of 5.25% in the borrowing by-law,and the arena reserve, the projected municipal expenditure for capital costs alone are $7,260 per household. I'd round it up to $8,000 when the incidentals of roads, parking, and there will be more are i:ncluded in the capital tally. I've repeatedly heard from council and staff that the borrowing amount could be less but I'm not holding my breath. The two year old borrowing by-law envisions a 9.3 million dollar project based on the 2nd feasibility study, http://www.minnedosasportsplex.com/admin/custom/FileUpload/files/Updated_Feasibility_Study_June_2014.pdf  
While the study can no longer be found on the MREC website, http://www.minnedosasportsplex.ca/ their server continues to host the link to the study.  
A request for proposals, see photo, appeared in the Minnedosa Tribune, on January 20th and 27th. It also appeared in the Brandon Sun and can be seen on the Town website. I picked up a copy of the information package at the Town office on January 23rd. It can be viewed here. https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/8199093/mrec-request-for-proposal-pdf-256k?da=y Page numbers have been written out in the order it was stapled together. Given the scale of the project, I would describe the information package as not very professional.  
According the town's Tendering and Procurement Policy section 7, https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/7390023/minnedosa-tendering-procurement-policy-pdf-202k?da=y  
ADVERTISING BID OPPORTUNITIES  
All bid opportunities solicited through a Request for Quotations, Request for Proposals, or a  
Formal Tender will be posted on the municipal website and advertised at least once in the  
Minnedosa Tribune or sent out to qualified local contractors.  
All bid opportunities for the procurement of certain goods and services valued equal to or greater  
than $100,000.00 and construction projects valued equal to or greater than $250,000.00 will be  
advertised on Manitoba’s electronic tendering system (MERX hppt://www.merx.com/) and /or  
another system which is low cost, easy to use and readily accessible across Canada.  
-copy and pasted from the Minnedosa Tendering and Procurement Policy  
 
To date the request for proposals has not appeared on MERX or another nationally accessible tendering system. MERX is used by the provincial government but is not Manitoba's. The cost to the town would be time: the service is free. Given the scale of the project why wouldn't the town endeavor to get as many competitive proposals as possible? I feel staff is failing ratepayers by not listing nationally and should be compelled to do so. I have sent an email to the Provincial Minister of Indigenous and Municipal Relations as well as members of council and staff in this regard. The email can be downloaded here. https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/8200006/fw-minnedosa-failing-it-s-own-policy-upload-copy-eml-17k it is an eml file so you may need windows live mail or an appropriate viewer to read it.