The Jean-Marc Lalonde arena will not be sold MARTIN BRUNETTE martin.brunette@eap.on.ca "$56"- * 5 r /&84
The Jean-Marc Lalonde Arena is no lon- ger for sale. Clarence-Rockland council decided not to go forwardwith the process to sell the building.
“We’re definitely not selling the arena,” said Mayor Guy Desjardin during a phone interview on Tuesday. “We will take a look at a report from the community service depart- ment, but it’s not for sale.”
The arena has not had an ice pad since september 2011
of the change of the use of the building […]” read the resolution adopted at the Jan. 26 regular council meeting. Jean-Marc Lalonde himself warned the council of the short-term negative impact of letting the arena go. “Our arena is still in better condition than many others in the region,” he said. “If we decide to sell the arena or close it, we will really regret it even five years from now. This arena was once home to the Rockland Nats and the trophy they won in the past is still at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto” The city council will again ask the com- munity services to come up with ideas on what to do with the arena that has been closed for a little over three years since the
opening of the Canadian International Hoc- key Academy in September 2011. At that time, the municipality was strug- gling with the idea of closing the ice pad at the arena since it had an excess with the new arena. Clarence-Rockland was then left with four ice pads. It was difficult to justify a fourth ice pad without having an impact on the other arena’s revenue. The surface was still used by various sports groups, including the Capital City Derby Dolls roller derby club from Ottawa, local ball hockey groups, as well as the 832 Twillick Air Cadet Squadron. “The public will once again be invited to comment and submit their own ideas during open meeting,” said Mayor Desjardins.
“If we decide to sell the arena or close it, we will really regret it even five years from now.”
- Jean-Marc Lalonde
Instead, the city will go back to its ori- ginal plan to find another use for the buil- ding which stands on Du Parc Avenue in Rockland. The council will still, however, look at the report submitted by the com- munity services on the evaluation of the building. “That themunicipal council herebyman- dates the Director of Community Services to submit a detailed report on the possibilities
Jean-Marc Lalonde
Residents asked for recycling thoughts
further reviews of the operating capacity of the dump have extended its working life to 2046. Longpré credited the city’s active efforts, with the support of residents, at recy- cling and diversion of some materials from the landfill. “If we do our job right,” he said, “we can maybe extend it (landfill closure date) ano- ther five or ten years.” The Thursday evening open house will feature information on other possible recy- cling ideas that the city could pursue along with some other options for extending the life of the landfill by reducing the amount of trash dumped there. A copy of the options and alternative ideas is available online at www.clarence-rockland.com. One thing Longpré noted that has high priority on the city’s recycling enhancement list concerns organic household waste.The city is looking into ways to either promote more home composting or other “green” ways to deal with kitchen and garden waste other than dumping the debris at the landfill.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
The City of Clarence-Rockland is doing well at stretching out the working life of its landfill. But it could do even better and now residents have a chance to advise the city about “greener” ways to delay the day when the dump has to close. A public information session is scheduled for January 29, 6 p.m., at the Clarence Creek Arena’s mezzanine, on the city’s solid waste management master plan. Denis Longpré, city environment manager, hopes to see a good public turnout for the evening in spite of the sub-zero temperatures now finishing off the month of January. “Any good program needs the help of the residents,” Longpré said during a phone interview. “Ultimately, we need feedback.” The last review of the working life of the landfill was done in 2001. It projected a pos- sible closure deadline of 2026. Since then,
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