In curling club terms, the years of paint causing troubles for Penetanguishene staff could be considered a ‘hogged stone,' needing to be removed before investigations into the problematic drainage can be continued.
Recreation and community services director Sherry Desjardins provided a verbal update at a recent regular meeting of council, in regards to drainage issues at the Team Howard Community Centre.
“In the previous report last month about the (Penetanguishene Curling Club),” said Desjardins, “I brought forward to council an issue about some drainage that’s blocked from the header trench; there is water that continuously resides in that area.”
Within the report, it was indicated that attempts to source the output of drainage were unsuccessful, noting a 2015 geo-technical report stating the curling facility floor had been built below the water table. As water intended to drain out of the trench instead allows water to flow in, up to three inches remains in the trench at all times with any overflow dispensing into the parking lot area.
Desjardins explained that through various contractors, pipes under the parking lot had been explored by camera to find the problem.
“But because of years of paint being dumped into the header trench and through the drainage system, it’s been very challenging and difficult to see in the camera where the blockage is and what’s causing the issue.
“So it’s not directly a fault of the curling club, because the system was designed for the melted ice and paint to be pushed into the header trench. But it has created this problem that has finally caught up with us,” Desjardins remarked.
Received grants and provincial funding were given to the aging facility built in 1973, noted as being in poor condition by a 2019 building condition assessment. In 2020, roughly $38,000 was invested by the town to install drains and improve asphalt works to direct water away from the structure, and recently both the curling club and the municipality cost-shared $5,448.23 to clean years of paint sludge from the header trench.
To drain the water and allow investigations into the source problem, staff approached council with a $7,000 quote to provide temporary pumping. The town is responsible for $1,500 in operating budget maintenance with the facility, and $5,000 was expensed in capital budget approval at the club’s request last month.
“Because it’s going to be over budget, we wanted to bring the issue to council to get approval to go over in that line,” stated Desjardins. “We do anticipate because of our staffing shortages in the recreation and community services department this summer, that there are savings there; we don’t anticipate there being an overage, so hopefully in the end there won’t be a financial impact.
“Worst-case scenario, we may have to redirect and to create a new line that would run to the main sewer line, and that could be quite costly. If that is the ultimate route that we have to go, we will obviously return to council for further direction either through another staff report or through the budget process.”
Council carried the motion, understanding that the water needed to be drained for safety purposes as work is undertaken.
A proposed $49.1-million multi-use arena facility had been explored as part of a 2021 study, to replace the two expensive and aging recreation facilities in town. To maintain the Team Howard Community Centre, the study noted the town would have to pay $1.15-million over the next 20 years; the Penetanguishene Memorial Community Centre would require $6-million in repairs and replacements over the same time-frame.
The staff report for the Penetanguishene Curling Club drainage can be located on the agenda page of the Town of Penetanguishene website.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
