Our rink-related correspondence with Toronto City Councillor Adam Giambrone and with Bob Crump, the manager of Technical Services for Parks and recreation, South District (i.e. the former city of Toronto).
On this page:
- Friends of Dufferin Grove (FDG): Notice of urgent problems
- City: Notice of old reports
- FDG: Request for copy of reports
- City: Caveats
- (Links to the reports)
- Analysis of reports
- Disagreement about the reports (they didn't lead to much action anyway)
- City: Tender announced for more reports
Friends of Dufferin Grove (FDG): Notice of urgent problems
Councillor Adam Giambrone
April 27 2004
Dear Adam,We have a rink "state of bad repair" problem that is growing a little grim. I would like to ask you again, to take action on our request for an inspection, as we discussed on the phone when you called me a week ago. I have been asking various people to take action since our group e-mail on April 4, and I'm beginning to think the great wall of municipal silence/ paralysis has descended, as often before. The rink is in trouble, and action needs to begin. If my own requests are too insignificant, I'm now ready to share my concerns with other rink users who may carry more weight.
To recap: The rink is only 11 years old. Its concrete surface is full of long cracks. All winter long it was losing brine (i.e. coolant fluid), up to 80 gallons a day, and nobody could fix the problem. When the ice went out in March, parks mechanics drained all the brine into holding tanks. A scan was done by some expert (we are not told who) and he discovered several small drill holes in the concrete which he thought were the problem. The single drill hole in the pipe was repaired and the brine was drained back into the rink's pipes. End of story.
Not the end of the story. The rink is in trouble, in a number of ways. Previously there was a total ammonia leak that set off no alarm at the (premature) end of our skating season. This incident also set off no alarms among technical services staff. The rust on major parts of this relatively new compressor plant -- in parts the bolts are rusted so badly that they can only be serviced with great difficulty -- also does not alarm anyone.
But the biggest puzzle right now is: the cracks. The newer city rinks that I looked at two weeks ago -- Campbell, Trinity, and Christie -- all have cracks. The older ones: Wallace, Scadding, and Ramsden -- have no cracks. We are the first-rebuilt rink of the new series, and our cracks are the biggest. At all the new rinks, the cracks show yellow stains. Since the brine was put back in the pipes, some of the cracks at our rink show reddish stains.
May I suggest that the drill holes were a red herring, and may have been put there mischievously by an unknown person, and that actually the leaking at our rink came from the increasing rusting of our pipes (as the concrete breaks down)? The drill hole I saw looked amazingly fresh. The pattern of inadequate freezing in the winter extended far beyond the drill holes. Worst possibility: that the more recent rinks have all been built in such a way that they will soon be unable to retain their coolant.
Our new rink surface and machinery cost about $1 million to build in 1993. It's supposed to last much longer. Something strange is going on here, and we need to have the inspection by CIMCO that a group of us have been asking for since April 4. CIMCO itself does not wish to enter into a relationship with citizens directly because of the company's pre-existing relationship with the city. Understandable. What is not understandable is that the city has not already gone ahead and requested this consultation, as behooves them in their task of stewardship of our resources.
Big mistakes were already made at this rink, and were then mended. This may be the biggest problem yet, or it may be relatively easy to fix. Now is the time to find out. So I am repeating our request: please ask Don Boyle to get an on-site inspection by CIMCO of the entire rink including the compressor plant, to be followed by a written report. The on-site walkabout should include at least two of our Friends group, one representative from your office, the manager of this parks area, and the manager of tech services, plus whichever of his staff he chooses to bring. Nothing else will be adequate.
Hopefully the news will be good. But we need to know now, bad or good, so that timely plans can be made. I look forward to your reply as early as possible.
Jutta
City: Notice of old reports
From: Bob Crump
To: Councillor Adam Giambrone, April 30
In 2001, our capital projects section hired consultants to conduct visual audits of all Parks and Recreation facilities across the City, to identify priority work to maintain facilities in a State of Good Repair. They made recommendations for work to be carried out at Dufferin Grove, Trinity Bellwoods and Campbell Ice rinks which have been incorporated into the Department's long range Capital Budget schedule. Most of these recommendations are related to mechanical and electrical components which should be replaced at the end of their expected useful life expectancy. $220,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Campbell Ice Rink and $80,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Trinity Ice Rink in 2008; and $220,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Dufferin Grove in 2009 to address these recommendations. However, the consultants did not flag any concerns with the rink pads at any of the four locations noted by Jutta Mason, describing the worst of them as being in fair to good condition and free of any structural distress and defects.
In 2004, the Department's Capital Projects section will be conducting more detailed audits of all arena and outdoor artificial ice rink facilities in the City. It is possible that the more detailed engineering audit will identify additional work requirements than noted in the original visual audits and the proposed capital budgets for these facilities may need to be revised to reflect them. I will advise the Capital Projects Section about the concerns raised by the Friends of the Rinks and ask them to determine if they need to be dealt with urgently. I do not recommend hiring CIMCO to conduct an audit of these facilities before this work is completed.
FDG: Request for copy of reports
05/01/04 10:22pm >>>
Dear Bob, our rink user group would like to read the report to which you refer in your memo to Councillor Giambrone, as follows:
In 2001, our capital projects section hired consultants to conduct visual audits of all Parks and Recreation facilities across the City, to identify priority work to maintain facilities in a State of Good Repair. They made recommendations for work to be carried out at Dufferin Grove, Trinity Bellwoods and Campbell Ice rinks which have been incorporated into the Department's long range Capital Budget schedule. Most of these recommendations are related to mechanical and electrical components which should be replaced at the end of their expected useful life expectancy.
Secondly, we would like to read the report (from the capital projects section?) that gives the reasons why the repairs to which you refer are recommended:
"$220,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Campbell Ice Rink and $80,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Trinity Ice Rink in 2008; and $220,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Dufferin Grove in 2009 to address these recommendations. However, the consultants did not flag any concerns with the rink pads at any of the four locations noted by Jutta Mason, describing the worst of them as being in fair to good condition and free of any structural distress and defects."
Please let me know within a week how we can get a copy of each of these reports.
Thank you,
Jutta
City: Caveats
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: please make these reports availableHello Jutta
Attached are copies of the reports you requested.
I have also attached an Excel spreadsheet for Dufferin Grove to demonstrate how I understand this information has been used to prepare Capital Budget estimates. The components of the facility were evaluated as to their state of repair and remaining life based on age and life expectancy of the component. Estimates were prepared to replace or repair each component which the consultants identified should be replaced within the next five to seven years or which were currently in a poor state of repair. These items were totalled to arrive at a capital budget estimate and scheduled into the long term capital budget plan, based on forecasted capital budgets for the next 10 years and the immediacy of the work to be done.
The total dollar value of the items identified by the consultants for Dufferein Grove is $171,700. This figure has been increased to $220,000 for account for inflation, contingency and consultant's costs at the time the project will actually be implemented.
As I mentioned in my previous E-mail, the inspections were visual audits only and were performed on over 250 community centres and other facilities in the South District alone (Wards 13-14, 18-22, and 27-32) . The rest of the City was similarly surveyed. The purpose of the audit was less to provide an in-depth analysis of each facility but to enable the Division to get a snapshot of the State of Good Repair of all Parks and Recreation facilities and to make informed choices about priority sites for capital funding.
As I also mentioned, the Capital Projects section will be conducting more detailed "due diligence" audits of all of the Division's artificial ice rinks (indoor and outdoor) in 2004. I expect that the consultants hired to conduct this audit will be selected for their expertise in this field. However, it will not be staff of the Capital Projects section who will be conducting these detailed audits and the consultants have not yet been hired to perform them . We are unable to accomodate your request to have them carry out a visual audit of Dufferin Grove by the middle of this week and to hire Cimco within two weeks if they notice any problems.
Please bear with us and understand that we too are committed to the responsible care of public resources, including financial resources .
Bob Crump
(Links to the reports)
Excel spreadsheet about the Dufferin Grove Park Artifical Ice Rink Inspection "to demonstrate how I understand this information has been used to prepare Capital Budget estimates" (see letter from Bob Crump just above)
Analysis of reports
05/11/04 02:02pm >>>
Bob, the inspection report you sent me for Dufferin rink says some things I don't understand.
The main thing is: your spreadsheet calls for repair/replacement expenses in 2003 of $85,000, including an item called "area refrigeration systems" for $61,000.
According the inspection report, that means replacing the water pump motor, the gas and liquid pipes, the overflow tank and expansion tank, the condenser pump, and the back flow preventer, and relocating the ammonia diffuser. (If I understood it right). Does that mean those things plus all the smaller bits were done last year?
I'm puzzled because your original e-mail to Councillor Giambrone said our rink has been slated for a bunch of repair in 2009, but I can't seem to match the numbers you sent me to your spreadsheet.
Jutta
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 2:56 PM
No , it doesn't mean those things were attended to last year. It just means that they were items which the consultant recommended should preferably be attended to at that time. However, the total dollar value of all items flagged by the consultants at all facilities across the City for 2003 could not possibly be afforded with available capital funds. So, all of these projects have been prioritized and scheduled to be attended to as soon as capital funds can be made available. Until then, we have to try and keep them operable with our maintenance budget and staff.
Bob
05/11/04 03:48pm >>>
Problems identified in 2001, recommended to be replaced in 2003:
- Gas-fired hot water: useful life is ending, $5000
- Liquid drained orifice: starting to corrode, $3000
- Replace existing floor drains with funnel type to avoid spills going to drain, $2000
- replacing the water pump motor, the gas and liquid pipes, the overflow tank and expansion tank, the condenser pump, and the back flow preventer, and relocating the ammonia diffuser. $61,000.
- Detail 1: "main supply brine pumps (2) pumps bases damaged, brine converted, pumps seal not replaced, replace pumps and bases."
- Detail 2: "now sand, dust, leafs [sic] are in tank no cover top.Maintenance should be carried out on regular basis."
- An item called "equipment," $4000.
Questions:
- Which of the things in the above list have been fixed/replaced already? When were they replaced? Before or after a problem arose? (E.g. I believe we did get a new brine pump this year, to try and fix the brine problem)
- Could any of those things have contributed to:
- a) the ice problems (lines of softening)
- b) the loss of pressure (was that what it was called?) when the mechanics worked right through the night to fix the compressor (that was the time when Don Boyle asked for a second opinion from CIMCO)
- c) the ammonia leak that finally shut down the rink
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:32 AM
The following are answers to your questions re "Problems identified in 2001, recommended to be replaced in 2003".
To clarify - these items were not necessarily identified by the consultant as being problems, just components of the facility which were nearing the end of their estimated life expectancy. Just like cars - the average driver can expect a car will last for 8 - 10 years, but with good maintenance and fewer kilometres than the average driver might put on it, a good driver can often get one to last much longer. The main purpose of the audit , like I mentioned in my previous E-mail, was not to do a detailed analysis of each facility but to try to get a picture of the scope of work the Parks and Recreation Division was facing in its facilities and to map out a long term capital program to address it.
Re : Question 1, " Which of the things in the list have been fixed/replaced already? When were they replaced? Before or after a problem arose?
- Gas-fired hot water: useful life is ending, $5000 - NO. Maintenance provided by Facilities and Real Estate and if they haven't replaced it, they must deem it still serviceable.
- Liquid drained orifice: starting to corrode, $3000 - Not sure what this refers to. Probably related to building, not AIR proper.
- Replace existing floor drains with funnel type to avoid spills going to drain, $2000 NO. Maintenance provided by Facilities and Real Estate and if they haven't replaced it, they must deem it still serviceable. Recommendation may be reviewed when more detailed audit conducted.
- replacing the water pump motor, the gas and liquid pipes, the overflow tank and expansion tank, the condenser pump, and the back flow preventer, and relocating the ammonia diffuser. $61,000. None of these items have created any maintenance problems and can continue to be serviced. Not sure why a recommendation has been made to relocate the ammonia diffuser. Will flag with Capital Projects to clarify the recommendation when detailed audit conducted.
- Detail 1: "main supply brine pumps (2) pumps bases damaged, brine converted, pumps seal not replaced, replace pumps and bases." E.g. I believe we did get a new brine pump this year, to try and fix the brine problem) Have not experienced problems with brine pumps
- Detail 2: "now sand, dust, leafs [sic] are in tank no cover top.Maintenance should be carried out on regular basis."
- An item called "equipment," $4000. Appears to refer to boilers and water supply for Zamboni. Not aware of any problems with this equipment.
Re : Question 2, "Could any of those things have contributed to:
a) the ice problems (lines of softening) . No
b) the loss of pressure (was that what it was called?) when the mechanics worked right through the night to fix the compressor (that was the time when Don Boyle asked for a second opinion from CIMCO) No. Shaft seal on compressor was the problem diagnosed by our in-house mechanics, which was confirmed as the problem by CIMCO mechanic who provided second opinion. Was not an item flagged by consultant.
c) the ammonia leak that finally shut down the rink. No
Disagreement about the reports (they didn't lead to much action anyway)
05/12/04 03:29pm >>>
Okay Bob, according to your analysis in response #3, it turns out that:
1. None of the things the inspectors slotted as work to be done at our rink (with specified years) actually need to be done at those times
2. None of the things that actually went wrong at our rink were identified/predicted by the 2001 inspection.
What we learn from this inspection experiment is that general, large scale inspections are a waste of park staff time and should be stopped. It would be good to note this for your records.
So the next, large-scale general inspection, to happen at an unspecified date this year, and carried out by an as-yet-undecided consultant, is a dubious plan. And the specific, immediate, in-depth rink inspection that we are requesting, is NOT in your plans.
Now: for the final, really BIG questions: since none of the 2001 inspections found any cracks in the concrete slab of Dufferin, Trinity, or Campbell, and since now there are cracks in all of them plus Christie, and at our rink the number of cracks is between 100 and 200, and their length is between four feet and the whole width of the slab:
- what happened between 2001 and now?
- what are you planning to do about the cracks?
- what effects will the cracks have on the operation and longevity of our rink?
(Please note that the last question is a trick question. The inspection reports give the life expectancy of a concrete rink slab as 30 years. Our slab is 11 years old, Trinity is 5 years old, Campbell maybe 6, Christie maybe 3. How does this cracking affect the longevity of the rink? Your answer here is for the record.)
Jutta
Thursday, May 13, 2004 12:23 PM
I don't agree that the large scale general inspections were a waste of time and money. They allowed the Department to gather information about its assets and infrastructure and to map out a plan to address the repair and replacement of components which , either due to age or poor state of repair noted at the time of the inspections, should be attended to or might be expected to need attention in the time frames noted.
The consultants would not have been able to predict that someone was going to drill into the rink pad and puncture a hole into the refrigerant pipes, which was the major problem on the rink this year. Similarly, they would not have been able to predict that a shaft seal on a compressor valve was going to wear down to the point that it needed to be replaced in three years, unless they dismantled the compressor . That is a type of problem that can occur at any time and is addressed by maintenance staff when it happens.
The more detailed "due diligence" inspections of City rinks planned for this year will review the orginal recommendations in the 2001 visual audit and assess the urgency for them to be addressed. They may also identify other items which may have been missed or not completely investigated in the visual inspections. Revisions to the long range capital plan (both in dollar value and timeframes) may be made based on their assessments.
I have flagged your concerns regarding cracks in these rinks with the Capital Projects section of our Department and expect that they will inspect them to determine whether they pose any threat to the operation and longevity of the rinks. Many rink slabs in the City have cracks in them and still operate without problems. Minor cracks may appear in rink slabs for no plausible explanation than temperature changes causing expansion and contraction of the concrete.
I will meet with you tomorrow and will take a good look at the cracks at that time. See you there.
Bob
Thursday, May 13, 2004 11:18 PM
Dear Bob -- thank you for taking the time to address my last e-mail. I told Kevin that I will not attend any rink meeting that does not have a rink-concrete specialist present (you may recall that we already had our own structural engineer "Mr.Concrete" looking at it -- he said the cracks would be of serious concern to him but it needs a rink concrete specialist to know for sure). However you can easily see the cracks yourself, and you may even want to count them. You will note that we marked the length of the cracks with red marker (three weeks after the ice went out), and only a few have lengthened since then; however, some have got wider since my last inspection. You will also note the large number of parallel cracks and those stained pale yellow (or rust, only a few) -- those colours are bleaching out now, but they were very vivid for the first three weeks after I raised this concern. Presumably you already took a look at that time, and are therefore familiar with the situation.
I respect your work with the city but I have to assume that you -- having many facilities to oversee -- are not any more a rink concrete specialist than I am. Therefore, since I am working hard at my writing, I cannot spare the time to walk around with you.
My next involvement with the rink condition will be in September, when there will be a sizable public-awareness meeting at which we will also show an NFB shinny-hockey film with the film-maker present. He was here today and he was concerned enough that he wants to get involved in the fall. If there turns out to be a real problem with the cracks, or with the rusted components inside the rink house, or with other holes drilled by unknown persons, it will most likely be too late to remedy the problems. This would be a major headache, not only for you and your colleagues but also for our elected representative. On the other hand, if it turns out that the cracks are no problem and the little drill hole was the only reason why our rink could not run to the end of the planned season, your decision not to seek expert advice will turn out to have been a happy choice.
It's a kind of roulette. It didn't work out before, when the compressors were vibrating so hard and the technical services department (before your arrival) ignored expert advice and waited until the floor had sunk four inches. But maybe it will work this time....?
Jutta
City: Tender announced for more reports
From: Councillor Adam Giambrone
May 17 2004
Dear Jutta
Following your request for a Dufferin Grove rink inspection, Bob Crump, Manager of Parks and Recreation Technical Services, and I visited the rink on Friday, May 14 to survey the site and determine its state of repair.
I was pleased to confirm with Bob that the contract for an inspection has gone to tender, meaning that al the rinks in the South District will be audited this summer by an independent contractor who will assess the infrastructure and determine the work needed to maintain it in good repair. Bob has assured me that all your concerns have been flagged for follow-up during the Dufferin Grove inspection, including the cracks in the cement, the reinforced sinking floor, the rust and the pressure problems.
We expect that the contract will be awarded through the Bid Committee within the next couple of weeks, and although it's too early to be exact about the timing, that the Dufferin Grove audit will happen in late summer.
I trust this addresses your concerns.
Yours truly
Adam Giambrone