Two months after a public clash over whether Greenport was moving too slowly on its long-promised ice rink project, village officials on Thursday signaled they are preparing to move from concept to execution — while making clear they intend to proceed far more cautiously than some business leaders would like.

At a four-hour work session last Thursday, village officials outlined plans to retain a specialized engineering firm to begin designing a permanent skating rink at Mitchell Park and evaluating whether the project can realistically operate for decades without becoming a burden on village taxpayers.

The discussion marks a significant evolution in the project.

Back in March, Greenport Business Improvement District President Rich Vandenburgh publicly accused village officials of allowing the $1.2 million state grant announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul in August 2024 to languish, arguing the village had “stalled” and pushing instead for a faster, less expensive seasonal rink model.

Thursday’s discussion made clear that the board is now actively pursuing a different path: a professionally engineered permanent installation designed specifically for Greenport’s conditions.

But village officials also acknowledged that moving forward will require spending money before there is certainty the project will ever be built.

“We have to do some engineering in order to start understanding the parameters of the project,” Deputy Mayor Patrick Brennan said. “If we decide to pull the plug at some point and say, ‘This is not going to work,’ that’s a sunk cost, so we may have spent $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 or $50,000 at that point.”

Aug. 8 community celebration

Before turning to engineering, officials discussed a parallel effort now underway to build public enthusiasm and private fundraising support around the rink.

Mayor Kevin Stuessi and organizers announced plans for an Aug. 8 community celebration marking the 25th anniversary of Mitchell Park, with proceeds supporting the ice rink initiative.

Committee co-chair Lisa Gillooly said organizers submitted their public assembly permit in April and envision an evening featuring live music, food, family activities, a possible oyster area, beer and wine stations, and a boat parade timed to coincide with a visit from the U.S. Coast Guard’s training vessel Bark Eagle.

Gillooly said the fundraising campaign has already generated $41,000 in donations and pledges, including one initial $25,000 commitment and several additional major gifts.

She also revealed an unexpected development: outreach from the National Hockey League.

According to Gillooly and Stuessi, committee representatives recently visited NHL headquarters in Manhattan to discuss youth hockey programming and explore potential discounts, donations and partnerships once a rink is eventually constructed.

The village’s disadvantaged-community designation could also make Greenport attractive for youth hockey initiatives, officials said.

But much of Thursday’s meeting centered not on fundraising, but on whether Greenport is choosing the right kind of rink.

‘A big lift’

Brennan said officials plan to recommend hiring a specialized ice rink engineering consultant and pursuing what he described as a traditional “design-bid-build” process: first designing the facility, then competitively bidding construction.

The initial engineering scope is expected to cost roughly $60,000, though officials acknowledged that figure would likely grow as additional studies are added.

Trustee Lily Dougherty-Johnson wanted to know whether the upfront design costs for a permanent rink would be recouped through the $1.2 million state grant.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said she believes a portion of it could be recouped, but “there’s no guarantee.”

The trustees said they would talk to state officials to get more clarity on that point.

Brennan argued the village’s biggest challenge is not construction cost but operational sustainability.

“Building it is a big lift,” he said. “But operating it year over year for 30 years is going to be expensive, so we have to be very … clear-eyed as we go into this, so we understand what we’re getting ourselves into, and it would be my goal that we have a clear picture of that before we have a shovel in the ground so that this board can commit to building this and understanding the operating implications.”

The proposed engineering work would model energy usage, weather impacts, staffing and maintenance costs before any final construction decision is made.

Trustee Julia Robins said energy costs could be the biggest wildcard in trying to project the long-term operating costs.

“Because of the volatility of the cost of energy, which is the primary thing we’re going to be looking at, we can tell one year out … I don’t see how they give us a projection beyond one year, to be honest with you, let alone 30.”

Brennan said designers “would have to build some assumptions into the model, but I think that’s going to come back to this board to make that determination.”

Phillips repeatedly returned to concerns about debt capacity and long-term obligations.

“We don’t have unlimited ability to borrow,” Brennan acknowledged, noting future village boards would inherit whatever financial commitments are made today.

‘Not rocket science’

Vandenburgh returned to the podium last week during the BID’s quarterly report and renewed his push for a different approach.

He said the BID has issued its own request for proposals to multiple rink builders around North America and expects responses next month.

Based on preliminary conversations, he argued Greenport could install a removable seasonal rink for less than $750,000 without extensive engineering or excavation.

“This to me is not rocket science,” Vandenburgh said, arguing municipalities across the country already operate similar systems successfully.

He also questioned whether spending $60,000 on engineering before comparing alternatives represents good governance.

“Everyone is so … desirous of doing something [so] that we can bring this ice skating rink back by this next season,” the BID president told the Village Board. “I don’t think realistically, based upon the earlier presentation I heard, that that’s going to be possible for the [20]26-[20]27 season.

“So if we can build a rink and I’m guessing it’s going to be under $750,000 just based upon loose discussions, this would be a fully functioning ice skating rink with … everything, soup to nuts, for under $750,000, and, you know, we don’t have to bond anything, we don’t have to burden the taxpayers with any additional obligations.”

Ongoing debate

Village officials pushed back.

Stuessi and Brennan said Greenport’s waterfront location, weather variability and energy demands make off-the-shelf assumptions risky, while permanent infrastructure could provide better insulation, lower operating costs and greater reliability over time.

Brennan described the permanent concept in greater detail than in previous board discussions, saying the “permanent … rink has a concrete slab in the ground with the refrigerant piping embedded in, like a radiant floor, that stays there all the time … and then there’s insulation below that as well, and potentially another set of coils below that, but that portion is permanent.

“What Rich [Vandenburgh] is interested in here is much like the rink we had, where it lays on the surface, and the mats, the refrigerant, everything is taken up and stored offseason.”

By the end of the discussion, both sides appeared to signal interest in continued collaboration.