By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Nephi City will have an ice-skating rink again this
winter&emdash;it is cold enough to keep the ice crisp and
there are those who purchased skates last year.
The rink is located behind the city fire station.
Reed Oakeson, who kept the rink in shape last year as
a labor of love, wrote a letter to Mayor Chad Brough, which
he shared at council meeting, requesting some additions to
make his volunteer job easier.
"The water faucet is 325-feet from the end of the ice
rink," said Oakeson. "It takes four hoses to reach the rink
each night and they need to be drained each night."
"I had no idea that he had to spray the rink every
night," said Brough.
Sometimes, the rink has to be sprayed twice to get a
usable surface, he said.
His request, therefore, was to have a faucet installed
by the fire house. The installation would mean that fewer
hoses would need to be drained since fewer would need to be
used.
Brough said he thought a better quality plastic needed
to be used to hold the water for the rink and, in that case,
perhaps less water would be needed to provide a good skating
surface.
"There is a light on the east side of the fire house,
which lights up half of the ice fairly well, but to make it
more usable a light on the northwest corner would be good,"
he said.
In addition, he said, there is a problem with snow
sliding off the roof of the fire station.
"When snow is left on the rink, no one skates on the
ice," he said.
Oakeson wondered if the city could clean the snow off
the fire house roof so the ice could be kept snow-free and
usable. In addition, he said, it would help if the ice could
be shoveled off.
"The high school has some tall buildings and there we
could easily make the rink 40-feet wide, but some site
preparation of the lawn or some leveling would need to be
made&emdash;a 40-foot by 200-foot rink is very interesting,"
said Oakeson.
Brough said he did not think the school would even
consider allowing a rink to be installed on their property
largely because of the need for the grass at the school to
be in good shape for spring use.
"Netting could be ordered to cover the rink," said
Brough. "Poles could be installed to hold up the net and
provide protection for the rink. The netting would help keep
the snow off the rink."
Brough said he was interested in making the ice rink a
success.
"We will have more people using it if they can count
on it being there each year," said Richard Paxman, council
member. "If we make it consistent, so they can make plans,
more of them will purchase skates."
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