By Clark Natalie

On Wednesday, Sept. 26, the Harris City Council met with the North Branch Area Hockey Association (NBAHA) to discuss the possibility of locating an indoor hockey arena in the city of Harris. At a previous council meeting, the subject had been broached and sufficient interest was expressed to call a work session to study the feasibility.

At the beginning of the work session, the Councilors pointed out that what they had to offer the NBAHA was land, but not money. In the proposal that NBAHA had given to area communities, it requested in addition to a three- to five-acre parcel for an approximately 31,000 square foot building, but also a paved parking lot, exterior lighting for the facility, access to the property, property final grading and landscaping and waiver of water and sewer access fees. The estimate on all these items could reach $50,000, based on the study done by city planner Dean Johnson.

Representatives from NBAHA, Jeff Henderson, president of the association, and Craig Moline, a member of the board, said that those items which were requested is a wish list.

If some community would provide all of the items, NBAHA would quickly decide to build the arena in that community. NBAHA is applying to Harris to see which of the items Harris would be willing to provide NBAHA.

Before going into which property would best be suited for the arena, the council had questions about how the arena would be run and what impact it would have on the host community.

Henderson pointed out that in the proposal, an Economic Impact study had been included. This dealt with the construction phase of the arena and also the ongoing revenues generated by the operation. After completion, the arena will generate 500 prime hours of operation. During tournaments, it is estimated that if half the teams are from outside of the local area, 480 players, coaches, and parents will spend two days and one night within the surrounding community. Non-tournament usage will generate 32,500 individual annual visits. If each individual spends $5 per visit, the total impact would be $406,500 annually.

During the construction phase, a multiplier was used based on the cost of construction. NBAHA estimates the cost will be $2 million. Based on their research a standard aggregate economic indicator of 2.5 of cost would be used. The impact for the community and area could reach $5 million.

Mayor Rick Smisson asked about local contractors and if they would be used during construction. The NBAHA has a policy of bidding out to community companies first. Letting them have first opportunity.

Smisson also asked what other types of businesses would the arena draw to it. The representatives indicated that for hockey tournaments, restaurants, gas stations and motels are what the visiting people are looking for.

Wayne Buisman pointed out that all of those items are presently in North Branch, and asked if Harris would be supplying those existing business with increased revenues at the expense of Harris residents. Smisson responded that if they do not build the arena in Harris, nothing will get built, no restaurants, no motels. Also, that the council has talked about creating opportunities for the youth, and this would be a good first step.

The first location that seemed practical was by School House park. Sufficient land is there. Councilman Doug Chaffee asked whether the arena should go into a residential area. During a hockey tournament, the arena could generate up to 200 cars on a weekend. The council noted that residential developments had been approved on the same county road that would access the arena at School House Park and may burden the neighborhoods.

A suggestion that the arena be shifted to land by the wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) that is being abandoned with the construction of the new plant. Sufficient land is there to construct the building and parking lot. Access roads are better and visibility is higher.

The land by the WWTF is prime commercial, and Smisson wondered whether land that could generate taxes should be given away. Other council members suggested that sufficient land would be left after the arena was built to construction more businesses. and the arena may be just what the area needs to spur the growth. Smisson acknowledged that construction costs could be less because a wetland impact study had already been done on the area for the WWTF and would not have to be done again.

It was decided to refer the question of placing the arena in that area to city engineer Chuck Schwartz to make sure sufficient land is available and what actions the council would have to take to assure that sufficient room for the arena is available.

All council members agreed that Harris should actively pursue the arena but to move carefully to limit the impact to local residents. The councilors asked Henderson and Moline how the management of the arena would be set up. They said that the arena would be owned by the city and leased by an independent non-profit corporation to run it. The independent corporation would have members of the NBAHA on its board. This type of ownership structure is necessary to utilize the funding opportunities of the city. The arena would then be able to access the bond rate of the City. The funding would not be the responsibility of the City, but of the non-profit corporation, and should the arena default, it would not affect the city at all. Should the organization running the arena fail, the city would then own a 31,000 square foot building they could sell to any business for any purpose.

The nature of the meeting was best summed up by Councilman John Pelant, "We need this arena here."

Comment from amanda, 10/9/07

as a teen of harris the ice rink would make harris more interesting we already lost driving our 4 wheelers and other motorized toys

Comment from Bob, 10/15/07

Good for you Harris. We need an arena.