Council to Consider Rink Spending

The Englewood City Council is scheduled to meet in August to introduce an ordinance to spend about $830,000 on repairs at the damaged John T. Wright Arena, NorthJersey.com reported.

The money would go toward repairs including the ice rink’s roof damaged by Hurricane Sandy, the floor, netting and dasher boards, according to the report. A concession stand, bathroom renovations and repairs to the bleachers would not be covered, and were previously rejected by the council.

City Manager Timothy Dacey told the Record the city might not need to borrow to cover the work.

"With insurance and FEMA money, we probably will not have to issue a note or bond," Dacey said in the report. "We need the ordinance only to legally bid the improvements."

In February, the city council rejected a bond ordinance allocating $674,350 to improve the arena.

Officials would need to find an organization to run the rink. The Boys & Girls Club of Garfield nixed its lease for the rink after the council couldn’t reach an agreement on the repairs.

If the ordinance is approved at the Aug. 7 meeting, a public hearing would be held Aug. 27 and repairs could reportedly begin in the following weeks.