ARENA UPDATE – January 12, 2024

Village of Burns Lake Recreation department staff have been working with contractors to ensure a return to arena ice as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, at the manufacturer level, the production of the new chiller unit continues to experience delays. While we are still hoping to run the ice for a shortened season, we are not currently able to provide a definitive “ice-in” date. We will continue to provide updates as things progress.

What happened?

• The Village of Burns Lake has been informed that the production of the new chiller is further delayed at the factory.
• As an explanation for the delay, this is from the manufacturer, Alfa Laval:

“In an effort to keep moving forward and investing in our business, Alfa Laval’s Richmond gasketed plate heat exchanger manufacturing facility has recently implemented a new Manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning System (mERP) that has caused unexpected, temporary operational delays in acknowledgment and delivery dates of placed orders. Once resolved, we look forward to the long-term benefits that mERP will bring. We sincerely apologize and understand the inconvenience this setback has caused you. Please know that we are taking this matter very seriously globally and have a dedicated team working diligently to address and resolve this delay.”

What now?

• The manufacturer has communicated that they are making Burns Lake’s chiller unit a priority and once ready, they will ship it on a designated truck.
• Village staff & contractors are ready to get the arena operational as quickly as possible once the new chiller arrives.
• Installation is expected to take about 2 weeks after the equipment arrives.
• Upon successful start-up and testing of the plant, staff will begin building ice as quickly as we can; this is also expected to take about 2 weeks until it is ready.
• The Village plans to extend ice availability to the end of April so that users can access ice for as much time as possible.