By MaryHelen Swanson

Considered a delaying tactic, icing results in a stoppage in play and a faceoff in the offending team's defensive zone.

They should've called icing Monday night at the North Branch City Council meeting when the NB hockey association came for formal action on a partnership between the city and themselves on the building of an ice arena.

The purpose of the icing rule is to encourage continuous action. That's what the hockey folks were hoping for when they sought approval of a memorandum of understanding Monday night. But they were met with a body check, of sorts.

Jeff Henderson, president of the hockey association, was joined by Brad Windschill from the NB school district and a letter of support from the NB Chamber executive director to present the forward line. In the end, they almost were poke checked by a city council not ready to cross the blue line.

Henderson told the council the association was ready to cover 80 percent of the cost of an arena, using private funding. He was asking the city for 20 percent, which he said, could come in the form of the placement of infrastructure already in future plans at the Williams Park.

Henderson was going on the assumption that the arena would be built in Williams Park.

He also pointed to section 8 in the memorandum that offered use of the facility 40 percent of the time for city activities at no charge. That could include open skating, community events and other youth events, he said.

The first thing Mayor Gloria Karsky wanted from the councilors was assurance there was support for a partnership.

All agreed the arena was a good thing, the partnership was a delayed call.

Councilor Theresa Furman wanted more options.

Councilor Kathy Blomquist was concerned about other large ticket items that are coming up, such as a police station, and said she couldn't make a decision until after budget time.

Councilor Larry Erickson said he couldn't approve it that night, and he didn't want it at Williams Park.

Furman apologized for freezing the puck, but said she had calls and e-mails from hockey association people telling her not to vote. The concern was where the money is coming from.

Henderson said there was no need to apologize. He just noted that the arena has been under discussion for two years and that "time is of the essence." "We need to move forward," he added.

Henderson noted that the project has changed in two years; the original plan was for a 30,000 sq. ft. building at a cost of $2.5 million. Today they are looking at a 7,000 sq. ft. building at a cost of $2 million, but ready for expansion.

Karsky said she heard there was not full support of the association members.

Henderson said that was probably correct, but the goal was to have foresight for the community, not just for today, but years down the road.

Karsky's major concern was that the ice arena work out, she didn't want the city left holding the bag if it didn't. She also wanted to know if the majority of association members favored the project.

Henderson said a meeting was scheduled for this week to discuss it and see if there is agreement among the members.

While city attorney Tom Miller had prepared a list of issues he felt needed to be addressed before a memorandum was approved, the consensus was that all were willing to work something out.

Karsky suggested a subcommittee of council, hockey association and school district be formed to work on details and provide the councilors what they needed in order to partner with the hockey folks on an arena.

Councilor Erickson and Karsky agreed to be on that committee.

The issue was tabled to the August work session.