One of the worst things about being away from work for an extended period of time is having to wade through e-mails when you get back. As I was sifting through my inbox this afternoon I discovered an interesting e-mail regarding today’s Public Facilities District meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. at Wenatchee City Hall’s Council Chambers.

The e-mail speculates that the PFD — the group that oversees and approves almost everything relating to the Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center’s finances – will consider increasing ice-use costs by 33 percent for groups wanting to use the second sheet of ice.

Apparently local groups were told by Global Entertainment representatives that ice-use fees would not increase with the new arena.

I was planning on attending today’s PFD meeting mostly to get to know who is making the decisions for the arena’s finances and to meet Global Entertainment CEO Rick Kozuback, who I was told would be in attendance at the meeting. Now it looks like I will be attending for those purposes and also to write a story about what, if anything, transpires out of the meeting.

You can read the e-mail, which is actually a letter from concerned hockey player/parent Amy Lewis to the PFD, below if you’d like:

Dear Board Members:

I am writing to you as an avid hockey player myself and as the concerned parent of a youth hockey player. It is my understanding that Global Entertainment is requesting a 33% increase in ice fees for the coming year in the new arena. I would strongly urge the PFD to consider how an increase of this size would damage our current local programs.

Imagine an average ‘hockey family’ with one parent and two children that play. Men’s hockey for the ’07-’08 season was $280. Youth hockey ranged from $295 for mites to almost $1000 for the season for a midget rep player. Using an average of $650 for the two youth players in our ‘hockey family’, plus the $280 for dad (or mom), we have a family currently paying $1580 for a season of hockey. It’s safe to assume that if ice fees are increased by 33%, the hockey programs will also need to increase their program fees by 33%. Using the example above the same family that paid $1580 this season, would pay $2100 next season. These are the same core families that would, hopefully, buy season tickets for hockey in the new arena. If playing hockey is going to cost my family an additional $500 per season, I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford the additional cost of buying tickets to arena events.

I can accept the need for an increase. We are, after all, getting a brand new facility. The last increase in ice fees was 3 seasons ago for the ’04-’05 season, so we are due for an increase. What is unacceptable is the size of the increase, and the fact that Rick Kozuback met with representatives from local user groups on 12/6/05 and told them that there would be NO increase in ice fees for the first two years in the new arena, and that increases after that would follow the CPI. He left us with the impression that local user groups were not a significant part of the operating budget of the arena.

One of the most common statements that I’ve heard regarding the increase in ice fees is that “We’ll still have some of the cheapest ice around.” Does that mean that we need to try to ‘catch up’ to the ice fees that they are charging elsewhere? If so, why? An amount that is inconsequential to Global Entertainment could very well cripple or even kill some local programs.

I would urge the Public Facilities District to reconsider the 33% percent increase, and instead implement a more realistic increase based on the Consumer Price Index.

Sincerely,
Amy Lewis
Wenatchee Banshees Hockey Club Member
Coed Hockey Member
WAHA Parent

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