Old ice rink warming house expected to gain new life

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX —  Now that the employees of Timber Technologies in Colfax have finished building a new ice rink warming house under the company’s Community Enrichment Program, the old ice rink warming house could gain new life.

Three or four people have already called about it, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, at the Colfax Village Board’s January 8 meeting.

Niggemann said she and Rand Bates, director of public works, had put together a notice advertising for sealed bids for the old ice skating rink warming house.

“Who will be responsible for the removal?” asked Mark Halpin, village trustee.

The old warming house is being sold “as is,” and it will be the successful bidder’s responsibility to remove the old ice rink warming house from Tom Prince Memorial Park by 3 p.m. January 31, Niggemann said.

The deadline of 3 p.m. was set so if the person who ends up buying the old ice rink warming house needs help loading the structure, village employees will still be around to lend assistance, she said.

Does the old warming house have to be removed in one piece or can it come out of the park in pieces?  asked Carey Davis, village trustee.

On the day Timber Technology employees moved the new ice rink warming house to Tom Prince Memorial Park, Niggemann told the Colfax Messenger at least one person had expressed interest in the weathered wood of which the old structure is constructed.

The old ice rink warming house is mounted on skids, as is the new warming house.

The old structure can come out in one piece or in pieces — “either way” — Niggemann said, as long as there are no pieces left and any debris is cleaned up.

The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved a motion to advertise for bids to sell the old ice skating rink warming building.

Village trustees Casey Rihn and Annie Jenson were absent from the meeting.

In addition to Halpin and Davis, village trustees David Wolff and Keith Burcham voted in favor of the motion, along with Gary Stene, village president.

The new ice rink warming house was built by employees of Timber Technologies in Colfax at the end of December as part of the company’s Community Enrichment Program.

Timber Tech paid the employees to build the structure and also donated the materials for the new warming house, which is the same color as the new tin and the new buildings at the Colfax Fairgrounds.

Under Timber Tech’s Community Enrichment Program, employees select the projects they want to do that will benefit the community.

Dale Schiferl and Tom Niska, co-owners of Timber Technologies, implemented the program to give their employees a way to help develop a sense of community and as a way for the company to give back to the community.

Cold storage repair

In other business at the January 8 meeting, the Colfax Village Board approved an estimate from Richard Jenson of Artistic Drywall and Remodel in the amount of $1,500 for repairing the garage door and frame in the cold storage section of the Department of Public Works building.

Halpin wondered how long the door and frame had been in need of repair.

“I hit it about a year and a half ago,” Bates said in a wry tone of voice.

Bates said he had been moving a piece of equipment into the cold storage portion of the building where the village’s former police car is stored.

From time to time, when village employees need transportation to a training seminar or a conference, they drive the old police squad.

“I thought I could make it,” Bates said.

At a certain point when he was backing up, the equipment would go no farther, and Bates said he eventually realized why he could not continue backing up.

“Good thing the post was there because the cop car was next,” he said.

By this time in the meeting, it appeared Bates was going to be the subject of good-natured ribbing for quite a while into the foreseeable future.

All kidding aside, several village board members wondered if the Jenson bid was the only one received for the work.

Bates said he had talked to two other contractors but Jenson was the only one who had responded.

Burcham wondered if the repair would be covered by the village’s insurance.

Niggemann said she did not think it would be a problem but that she would check with the village’s insurance company.

Whether the insurance will cover the repair is not an issue because the door and frame should be fixed, and “this is the cost,” Stene said.

The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved a motion to award the bid to Jenson.