by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Thief River Falls City Council amended an agreement regarding an ice plant during a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 12. A week earlier, the council approved replacing the ice plant at Ralph Engelstad Arena at a cost of $3,225,000. However, the amount should have been $3,299,500 to account for contingencies. The agreement has now been amended.

The 250-ton additional capacity CO2/glycol system will serve both REA and the Huck Olson Memorial Civic Center. Besides seeing savings in water and electricity usage, the city will be able to heat HOMCC with heat reclaimed from the new ice plant.

The REA ice plant is currently at the end of its lifespan and hampered by the use of refrigerant R22. R22 is no longer being manufactured in or imported into the United States due to environmental concerns.

The ice plant is original to REA, which was completed in 2003, and is currently at the end of its lifespan.

The HOMCC ice plant is significantly newer and uses a different refrigerant, but similar issues may result with that refrigerant.

The city plans to sell bonds and possibly apply for grants. It may also sell the HOMCC ice plant to recoup some of its expenses.

CIMCO Refrigeration estimates it will be 53 weeks before the new ice plant is operational. The parts are custom made.

The council removed the rescindment of a resolution from the agenda. Initially, the council was set to consider rescinding an Aug. 15 resolution to appoint Trentyn Groslie to water treatment plant operator. If the council had approved the rescindment, the position would have been reopened internally.

Council member Steve Narverud said the Labor Committee met and reviewed the matter. He said the committee didn’t believe the matter needed to be addressed by the council since a grievance hadn’t been filed. If a grievance were filed, Narverud said the council could address the matter at that time.

According to information provided to the council, the Teamsters Union had “contacted the city and cited an irregularity in regard to the internal posting process. Some department heads did not post the job as required by the union contract internal job posting requirements to allow for application in regard to a lateral position transfer. The union has expressed its intent to grieve it if this issue is not resolved.”