Kincardine Council has given pre-budget approval for a new back-up generator for the Davidson Centre.
Council received a staff report seeking $600,000 for the replacement generator and installation project.
The main driver of getting pre-budget approval is the amount of time it would take to purchase the new generator and its manufacture time frame. Staff is hoping to have the new machinery ahead of next winter.
Currently, in the event of a power outage, municipal staff would have someone on-call to turn off breakers that were not a priority for the facility’s existing back-up generator, or equipment that requires specific care. If there isn’t anyone able to make it to the Davidson Centre to turn those breakers off, it could result in equipment being damaged.
The new equipment and work would be paid for by the Lifecycle Reserve Fund.
Staff is proposing to replace the existing generator, which is toward the end of its service lifecycle, with a new model that runs on natural gas, rather than diesel.
With appropriate retrofitting and updating, the new generator would be able to keep the lights on in the building in the event of an outage, as well as maintain the refrigeration system the ice surface.
As the Davidson Centre is the emergency shelter in the event of a community emergency, and the warming and cooling centre for extreme temperatures, some members of council were concerned about the overall cost.
“I guess I’m a little torn, because if there was an event where I had to house a large portion of our community, I don’t feel like ice would be first and foremost on the minds of the community,” said Councillor Amanda Steinhoff-Gray. “I don’t want a last-minute decision. I beg to understand the risk balance, knowing that there are decisions to be made with that building.”
In the event of an emergency outage, the ice surface would not be immediately turned back on, which would cause the ice surface to degrade and need replacing after 48 hours. That translates to staff having to completely re-install the ice, which could take up to two weeks.
Similarly, in the summertime, if the power to the pool filtration system was cut off, the water would need to be treated to get it back to standard, which can take up to 12 hours.
Those delays translate into lost revenue while crews work to restore regular community programming.
Staff says that they are working with the gas utility at the Davidson Centre to ensure there is adequate service capacity for a natural gas generator.
A new generator that runs on natural gas would alleviate the need to ensure a diesel generator was constantly and consistently fueled, particularly if there was a severe weather event that would prevent delivering that fuel.
“Normally, I’m kind of hesitant when it comes to pre-budget approval for a lot of items, because the tendency is you commit to a lot of things before you see the big picture. In this case, from what I’ve seen personally, I think this is an excellent decision in future-proofing and hedging risk,” said Councillor Rory Cavanagh. “Get the bigger one, go with it as recommended and that way, you don’t have people running through buildings a flashlight flipping breakers here and there.”
With council’s approval of the project, staff are expecting a 7-month lead time on generator manufacturing, with the unit being installed in the summer of 2025.