At a Central Otago District Council meeting on Thursday, it was agreed that submissions on the 2023-24 annual plan would be open from Monday until May 1.
From May 18-31 community boards and council would consider submissions and then on June 28 the annual plan would be adopted.
Community boards had approved the draft budgets in the plan, with Cromwell and Vincent Community Boards adamant they did not want to see the cost of pool entry rising.
The only item of consultation in the plan was the proposal to make a grant of $400,000 to Iceinline Central Incorporated from the VCB reserve fund towards building a roof over the ice rink at Molyneux Park to protect the ice and extend the season.
If a grant went ahead, the cost will apply to Vincent ratepayers only.
Vincent Community Board (VCB) chairwoman Tamah Alley said she was keen to hear from large numbers of Vincent ward ratepayers.
"The board recognises that finances are tight for many of our residents right now. We would love for everyone to give a resounding ‘Yes — we want this roof’ or ‘No, we just can't afford it’ so we can make the best decision for our community. We also need to consider that building costs are unlikely to get any cheaper in future years."
At the meeting CODC chief financial officer Susan Finlay said while there had been concerns the price may increase given the current climate she had a quote from Calder Development dated March 23 and was confident they were working through it in the right manner.
There were potential power cost savings to the adjacent swimming pools of up to $250,000 using heat exchange, she said.
In 2016 the VCB made a grant of $650,000 to Iceinline to purchase new plant to enable the ice rink to transfer excess heat made during the ice-making process to the Alexandra Pool. This was funded by a 20-year term loan with, as of 30 June $531,150 still to be repaid.
The Vincent ward ratepayers would pay back the grant to the reserve over 20 years. The cost added to their rates, depending on which of the three option was chosen, would range from nothing (if no funding was granted) to $3.91 per ratepayer if it was fully funded and repaid over 20 years.
- The annual plan consultation document and supporting information is available online at lets-talk.codc.govt.nz and in hard copy at council service centres.
