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Provo takes helm of Peaks Ice Arena

Good to hear Max Rabner is gone. He struck me as one of the most ineffective managers I've ever dealt with. Now maybe we can get curling in Utah County?

I am excited for a new chapter at the rink. Utah County has seen dramatic declines in hockey participation under the Rabner regime. The lack of customer service, facilities maintenance, community outreach, and Rabner's hostility towards hockey made working with Max Rabner one of the most challenging parts of fielding a team. The facility has a lot of potential to draw people interested in participating in figure skating, hockey, futsal, etc. Provo Parks and Recreation can now move toward that goal.

last i checked -- max rabner is the one who brought hockey and figure skating to the county. the county/city had their pond rink at the lake. then they wanted to build a single sheet in the provo industrial wasteland next to kooni's -- on land that lewis billings owned and was trying to sell. max rabner was the one who brought the olympics to the facility. there was no public programming before mr rabner. he is the one who grew high school hockey and created a futsal league in the county. max had created more house hockey leagues and teams hosted more hockey tournaments that involved teams from across the western states than any other rink in the state. i even recall the rink tried a curling league -- but there were only a handful of people interested in the county. people might have had a disagreement with max -- but there is no disputing the figures. there is not another rec facility that has grown as much and provided more programming than the peaks arena under max rabner.

Another Billings debacle in the dark. Why is the deal not made public? With this adminstration someone always has to make a gramma request. Billings cannot ever be forthright. How much is this going to cost the city? Can the city even afford it? Where is the money going to come in a Parks and Recreation Department that has spent, at the Mayor's behest, over 800,000 rebuilding the golf course for a development that isn't coming? They don't even have the 800,000 moreless money to subsidize a venue that never has made money nor ever will. Another Billings decision like iProvo, the Arts Center, Action Target, the Airport, etc. that are all highly subsidized by a city budget that can't afford it all. How many deals are we the citizens of provo going to let this Mayor make that we will be paying for decades while he slides out for some other job and doesn't have to deal with the mess? Wake up Provo!

There are VERY lean times coming and for Provo to take on ANY additional infrastructure that the citizens have to pay for (even upkeep) is folly. If the economy goes as bad as everyone thinks, it may prove to be more useful as a "soup kitchen".

As someone who worked with Max, I am excited and optimistic about the change in management. As hard as Max tried-and I do give him credit for trying- it seemed he could never quite catch the vision of how to make the rink profitable, friendly,and conducive to building a strong figure skating program. Way too many skaters and coaches left Peaks for facilities that offered more ice time, more options for coaching, good working relationships and training equipment. Max was okay with being a feeder rink to other rinks in the state. This made it very difficult to build a strong skating program at Peaks as skaters would leave once they needed more than Max could or would offer. I do appreciate the foresight Max showed in bringing such a quality double rink facility to such a great location. It is one of the best ice facilities in the state- and hopefully now will receive the much needed face-lift and progress forward. I appreciate the city and county in caring about this rink and enduring through this long legal battle. I am thankful that you care about building great youth and community programs and not just about renting ice.

The fact that really matters to this story is, what was the cost to the taxpayer of this settlement? Of course Mayor Billings has declined to comment, he was responsible for the original agreement with Mr. Rabner.

Come on Provo! This is getting absolutely ridiculous. So much that we are not supposed to know, especially when it involves our tax dollars.

Do you have to file a GRAMA request each time you report on this Mayor? Seriously...

I am optimistic the new Peaks management can grow these youth and adult winter sports lacking in Utah County.

While we're in a recession, the focus needs to be on the patron's ability to afford to participate. With some creative problem solving among parents and the Peaks, we can work together to offset expenses for the facility, the tax payer, and the parent.

Maybe now with governmental influence, the Peaks can work with local schools to incorporate these winter sports in to their PE programs. We're a winter state, for crying out loud! We ought to be able to generate interest and new blood, even put Utah on the country's hockey map, but it needs to be affordable now more than ever.

How about an equipment swap/used gear sale? Why not let hockey/skating parents run the concession stand at the college games to offset their fees, and save the Peaks some operating costs? A Peaks parental advisory board is an idea left un-explored. We can solve these issues without accusation over who's fault it is winter sports aren't thriving here in Utah County.