Very Disconcerting News Item

From The KingstonWhig Standard
Expert, city spar over rink; They pressured me: consultant
Jordan Press Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 00:00

A consultant hired to assess the condition of Harold Harvey arena says he was asked to amend his report and effectively condemn the aging structure. Gunnar Heissler told the Whig-Standard city staff requested he assess the refrigeration system at the rink as a risk to public health, which he considered outside the mandate of his report. "And that I couldn't do. There's no reason to condemn that facility," said Heissler, who inspected the mechanical portions of the arena on behalf of Ottawa-based consultant Morrison Hershfield Ltd. "If I had seen a leak or seen any evidence of corrosion, I would have said something different, but I didn't."
City officials say Heissler was never asked to change his views. Commissioner of corporate services Denis Leger said "no request was made from staff" to have the report altered. Staff asked Heissler to review the refrigeration system at Harold Harvey to assess the cost of replacing it.
Report omitted risk factor City staff wanted to ensure councillors understood the system could pose a risk and wanted that clear in the report, said arenas manager Kelly Williams. He said staff didn't clearly explain they wanted an assessment of the risk the unit poised. "We have some risk concerns," Williams said. "We have concerns about the fact it's very old and three, five years from now, what are we dealing with?" Williams said Heissler wasn't wrong in the conclusions of his report, but didn't include the risk factor in it.
Besides Harold Harvey, Heissler inspected the Memorial Centre, Centre 70, Cook Brothers and Wally Elmer arenas. City staff brought him in to assess the condition of each building as the city debates what to do with the old arenas once the multiplex opens next year. As is, the business plan for the multiplex would see Harold Harvey and Cook Brothers lose their ice to ensure the new $33.6-million facility meets its revenue targets.
In a report to councillors this week, city staff wrote that they asked Heissler to review the section of his report dealing with Harold Harvey's refrigeration system. Staff "expressed concern that the presence of the direct- ammonia refrigeration system had not been rated as a greater risk to public health and safety" in the report. They recommended in their report that the system be replaced for $1.2 million. Unlike other arenas in town, Harold Harvey uses ammonia to directly cool the ice. Other arenas use ammonia to cool brine that circulates under the ice. Heissler said while ammonia is one of the most toxic substances on earth, it also reeks. Even the smallest leak would be noticed immediately and people could be evacuated, he said. He wrote the added amount of the substance in the system at Harold Harvey doesn't make it any more dangerous than in the arenas where less is used. As well, being under the concrete slab means a leak "will develop gradually providing some time to implement emergency response procedures."
"Nothing was discovered during the site review that should be causal [sic] for alarm, nor were any technical issues in evidence that would justify a recommendation for the replacement of the system," the report said. His report suggested the city install proper alarms and dump valves. "Then it's a matter of due diligence," Heissler said. "It could go on [working] for 20 years, but it could fail tomorrow - but that applies to others."
Mayor Harvey Rosen said the system at the rink should be changed, but said he was sure staff wouldn't ask a consultant to change his findings. "People interpret inquiries in different ways," Rosen said. "I'm certain no staff member would ask a consultant to amend their report to reflect a particular point of view."
Deputy Mayor Steve Garrison said it would be unacceptable if someone in City Hall asked a consultant to change items in a report. Chief administrative officer Glen Laubenstein said consultants are asked to qualify or clarify statements to make things clear, but never to change findings. "You hire consultants to give you the brutal, hard facts," Laubenstein said.
It's a fact the Church Athletic League wants to continue using Harold Harvey for its games and practices after the multiplex is open. The league wants to lease the building and operate it at no cost to the city. League president Ken Ohtake said the report doesn't bode well for future talks with the city. "We are anxious to sit down with the city and see what we can do," Ohtake said. "Am I optimistic the city will sit down with us? ... I'm not. "Although if we can convince the councillors to take the word of the engineer seriously ...then maybe there's hope." The league's position is that it would take on the arena once the city brought it up to standard, Ohtake said. If that now meant replacing the refrigeration system, "so be it," he said.
The report The report about the condition of the five arenas will go before the arts, recreation and community policies committee when it meets today at 5:30 p.m. at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. The report is available online at www.cityofkingston.ca/pdf/cityhal l/committees/community/agenda/2007/ARC_A0607-SchedA.pdf.
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This is a very disconcerting report. The City has used consultants for many projects, including a report on the city's need etc for a new aquatic facility, including a 50m pool. Some of those who support a new aquatic facility in Kingston now wonder what parameters were that the city gave the hired consultant. Did the city say, for example, "give us a report on building a 25m pool"? Did the city ask for a "needs assessment"? [we know that this was not part of the RFP because there were not broad consultations, public meetings, mail/telephone surveys of citizens in general. Yes, there were VERY limited user meetings, but no self-respecting consultant would say that what the city got was the results a community/area needs assessment, because there wasn't one]. Did the city ask for a report oon the need, potential inclusions in an aquatic facility? No.

An aquatic facility that will meet the community's need is so much more that a 50m pool.