The Bettendorf Park Board set a public hearing to get citizen feedback on leasing part of Crow Creek Park to a private dekhockey operation even though the lease had not been finalized and basic terms of the agreement were not known.
And, with negotiations on the lease now in limbo, terms of the lease won't even be known prior to the scheduled public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday (10/24).
Editor's Note: The public hearing on the new dekhockey lease was cancelled. A new date has not been set.
City Administrator Decker Ploehn urged the park board at last week's meeting to fast-track the lease approval so the city could begin building a second rink for use by QC Dekhockey, Inc., a private operation which has been using park property rent-free for the past year.
The city would pay for removal of trees, construction of a new base for a second dekhockey rink, lighting and additional parking. Cost of the work is estimated at $50,000. That expense would be in addition to the $12,000 the city spent last year to erect lights and convert the existing basketball courts at Crow Creek Park for the first dekhockey rink.
The city is required to hold a public hearing on leases greater than three years in duration of city property. Ploehn told commissioners QC Dekhockey owner Patrick Levesque had wanted a 10-year lease agreement, but that he envisioned a lease of more than three years and possibly up to seven years.
Under the current lease, Levesque pays no rent to the city and the city pays for electricity to light the rink.
Levesque told the park board he has invested more than $100,000 on the dekhockey rink equipment, which includes a trailer and scoreboards and second rink would be an investment of $140,000. According to Levesque, he currently has 750 dekhockey participants and a waiting list of 100 to 150 people.
Levesque charges teams to play on the courts. Last spring, he asked the park board to allow him to sell beer at the rink, but withdrew that request before the meeting scheduled to discuss the proposal.
Ploehn and Park Board Director Steve Grimes wanted to speed up the lease approval process in order to have the new rink ready for play this March.
If an agreement is reached on a new lease, and approved by the board, it would go to the city council for consideration.
The second rink would be built just north of the current rink and would require the removal of several trees. One park commissioner expressed concern the second rink might infringe on the Crow Creek Park cross country course which currently loops past the existing rink.
Dekhockey is similar to ice hockey, but the rink is a smooth court (not ice) and players do not wear skates. There also are fewer players (3 plus the goalie) on the court than ice hockey.
Images below of existing dekhockey rink. The proposed second rink would be built just north of the current rink. The chalk line indicates the current cross country course at Crow Creek Park.
