Future of Brewer ice rink center still questionable

BREWER – The owners of the T.J. Ryan Center, an ice arena on the Acme Road in Brewer, are in the process of refinancing $825,000 in debt, a measure aimed at helping them keep their 5-year-old rink and indoor soccer facility open.

Because the refinancing package hinged in part on the city’s granting two requests, only one of which was approved as of Monday night, the deal was not closed Tuesday as scheduled.

During a City Council meeting last Thursday, Louis Janicki of Hampden, who owns the rink formerly known as the H.O. Bouchard Sports Complex with his wife, Caryle, asked councilors to consider two requests that he said were necessary to the facility’s ability to remain financially viable.

The first request, which was granted that night, involved approval of a subordination agreement requested by Advantage Commercial Funding, a Maine limited liability company based in Portland with which the Janickis are negotiating a new loan.

The other request was to allow the arena owners to apply rental fees they expect to receive from the city’s recreation department and school department to the refinancing package in the form of partial payment of late taxes.

The issue apparently was the source of some confusion. City officials learned about the request shortly before their scheduled meeting time. Several councilors expressed concern about not having had time to research the matter and its implications, if any, on the city.

According to the council order pertaining to the subordination agreement, the refinancing package would enable the couple’s company, T.J. Ryan LLC, to pay off its loan to Bangor Savings Bank, which has initiated foreclosure proceedings and plans to put the rink up for auction on July 30.

The deal also would enable the owners to pay the bulk of the taxes owed to the city of Brewer, which holds three liens for more than $61,00 in unpaid real estate and personal property taxes.

Louis Janicki said this week that he’d left last week’s council meeting under the impression that the latter request had been granted. He subsequently learned that it had not.

On Monday, Janicki was back before the councilors with an emergency request. The arena owner pointed out that the facility brought to the city many families who while here shopped in local stores, ate in local restaurants and stayed in motels and hotels. He said the facility also helped meet a growing demand. The only other ice arenas are two provided by the city of Bangor and the University of Maine.

City officials countered that they provided the tax increment financing package, parking, lighting and similar resources needed to get the project up and running in the mid-1990s.

Though council members unanimously agreed to discuss the matter under suspension of the rules, they voted 3-1 to table any action because it was not on that night’s meeting agenda and because they felt they did not have all the information they needed. Most said the short notice bothered them.

“Personally, I’m not going be able to make a decision on this tonight,” Mayor Michael Celli said, citing the lack of notice. Councilors Donna Thornton and Manley DeBeck Jr. agreed.

Thornton further said she was concerned that the city was, in essence, being asked to advance the Janickis the roughly $20,000 they anticipate getting from the city in ice rental time. That, she said, would leave the city little recourse for recouping the funds should the rink close before the year is up.

Councilor Larry Doughty cast the sole vote in support of Janicki’s request. He said he’d also assumed the request had been granted last week.

City councilors told Janicki they would revisit the matter at their next meeting, scheduled for July 9.

Bangor attorney James Wholly, who is representing the arena owners, said it was not clear how the council’s decision to table the request would affect the refinancing arrangement, but was optimistic that the matter could be resolved by the end of this week.