Rothesay councillors walk out after resident asks for arena update
Three Rothesay councillors left a council meeting this week rather than vote on whether to hold a public meeting about the town's aging arena.
Councillors Peter Lewis, Don Shea and Grant Brenan walked out of the chamber when a motion put the question of a public meeting to council.
Their departure from the meeting Monday left the eight-member council without a quorum.
Resident Brendan Kilfoil had appeared before council to request a meeting to update the public on the latest plans for the Rothesay Arena.
Frustrated councillor
"I felt that the public should know and be involved with what the decision's going to be," Kilfoil said in an interview later.
Lewis, the first councilor to leave the room, said his actions came from a place of frustration about the rink.
"I feel we've already gone down this road," he said in an interview.
Council decided in October to renovate the arena rather than build a new one.
"We've spent almost $3 million in the past 15 years, and there's nothing to show for it," Lewis said.
Mayor Nancy Grant said council had received letters of concern from several citizens about the decision to renovate instead of rebuild.
"There really wasn't any public engagement, which I guess is the reason a resident came as a delegation to this council meeting," Grant said.
"I think we're all frustrated, and it's no secret there are two points of view around the council table."
Lewis said he felt a public hearing at this stage would be a step backward for a project that has already taken so much time.
"If we schedule another public presentation, for one thing, what is it for? We don't have any schematic drawings for a rink renovation yet, and we don't have schematic drawings for a resized arena without a field house."
Kilfoil said he feels plans to update the rink are being rushed because of the arena's state of disrepair.
"I don't know if it's worth it to refurbish a 50-year-old building."
With all the work the town has put into trail systems, the skating rink, new ball fields and the Rothesay Common, "rushing the refurbishment" wasn't "in line with everything else we've done," Kilfoil said.
He left the meeting after making his request and was not present when Lewis and the other councillors walked out.
Rothesay council was already scheduled to hold a private meeting on Jan. 21 to resolve issues surrounding plans for the arena.
Lewis said he hopes after that meeting the council will have more information for the public, including what renovations may be made and the cost of renovating versus building anew.
But he said the remaining work will take months.
"Municipal politics moves very slowly, and it's a pace I'm not very happy with sometimes, but it's a pace you do have to deal with."
Lewis also said council is still waiting to see if provincial money will come through for the project.
Both Lewis and Grant said Kilfoil only had four signatures in addition to his own on his proposal.
Lewis said the hockey and figure skating clubs, which had been part of public delegations in the past, were not at Monday's meeting.
"I think everybody's gotten tired of the discussion with nothing happening," he said.
Lewis said he thinks taxpayers in Rothesay have enough confidence in their elected councillors to do the right thing for the town.
Grant said unfinished business from Monday's meeting will be rescheduled.
