Just as in Les Coteaux the day before, the young field hockey players and skaters who practice their favorite pastime at the Centre sportif Soulanges in Saint-Polycarpe turned out in large numbers for the regular meeting of the Saint-Zotique municipal council this Tuesday, November 21. 

In addition to being accompanied by their parents, the youngsters could also count on the support of Mélanie Bossé, mother of young athletes who use the facility and a businesswoman committed to the Vaudreuil-Soulanges community, and Jean-François Beaulieu of the Soulanges Minor Hockey Association. 

During the question period, they called on elected officials to accept the Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe's offer to create a Régie through which the Town of Saint-Zotique would become the owner of the site, along with the nine other municipalities that use it. 

Elected officials aware of the importance of regional infrastructure 

When asked about their intentions regarding the preservation and maintenance of the Saint-Polycarpe arena, the five councillors and the mayor admitted that they were aware of the importance of this regional sports facility for young people. 

Among the citizens who took to the microphone was young Élodie Besner, a user of the Centre sportif Soulanges and figure skating coach. Very much at ease, she addressed the elected officials wearing a Soulanges Hockey Association sweater.

"Tell me where we'll practice our sport if the Centre sportif Soulanges closes its doors," she asked the mayor at the outset. "In Vaudreuil-Dorion or Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, I imagine," he replied. "Will the field hockey players play at midnight or 1 a.m.? In Saint-Lazare and Vaudreuil-Dorion, there's no ice time available for us. All the ice rinks in the region are full, and 40 skaters on the same ice is no fun. Do you want all the skaters and field hockey players who use the Centre sportif Soulanges to stop their activities if it closes? Because that's what will happen. Ice sports will then experience a drastic decline in popularity," she continued. 

Would she be able to train on the refrigerated rink at Parc Quatre-Saisons? "At a temperature of -30 in January on outdoor ice? No, thanks, I don't think so. It just doesn't make sense. The infrastructure isn't made for that. The blades on my skates are worth $500 each, and I don't want to break them because I'm walking through rock to get to the ice, or put them on in the cold. That would be impossible," she says. 

Next, field hockey mom Mélanie Bossé stepped up to the microphone to ask a question. "I'm the mother of players who attend the Centre sportif Soulanges, and I can tell you that playing this sport instills great values in our children, such as pride, diligence, respect for others and perseverance. While they're on the ice, they stay away from screens. Gentlemen, Lachance and Guay, you who are against the proposal, do you want to be among those who tell our young people that their sport isn't important enough to preserve the arena?", Ms. Bossé challenged the elected officials. 

Mayor Yvon Chiasson mentioned that they don't want to dive headfirst into the project until they've seen the figures, the forecasts and talked to the people in charge of the NPO in place to manage the Centre sportif Soulanges. 

"We need to give it serious thought. The first two phases of the project require investments of $10 million, while the third will require investments of $4 million, which is a lot of money to invest over twenty years. That's $36,000 for the first five years and then $136,000 for subsequent years. Some elected officials are not comfortable with this expense for a service that is not on our territory, in a context where we are working on a budget that will present a tax increase and a reduction in services to our citizens", summarized Mayor Yvon Chiasson. 

For his part, District 2 Councillor Yannick Guay seized the opportunity to explain his position on the issue. "Everyone knows my love of sport. I'm a physical education teacher and one of the founders of the sport-étude program at Chêne-Bleu high school. I know very well the benefits of sport for young people. As far as we know, there are 102 field hockey players and 30 figure skaters at CSS, as well as some 20 teams who play in a garage league. I'm totally in favor of preserving the arena, but I'm against all our citizens paying for it without asking their opinion, especially if they don't use it," he confessed. 

He made no secret of his intention to hold a referendum among citizens to find out whether or not they are prepared to invest such a sum to preserve the infrastructure. "In my opinion, an elected official must make the best possible decision for his citizens' pocketbooks. In this case, I'm not in a position to do so. By holding a referendum, the decision will come from them, and I'll be more comfortable with the results. If there is a referendum, I'll definitely vote for it," he says. 

For his part, Eric Lachance of district 4 admitted he also had reservations about the Saint-Polycarpe proposal and had questions for the NPO that manages the arena. Mayor Yvon Chiasson undertook to organize a meeting between the directors of the NPO and the elected officials to obtain all the answers to their questions. 

"No one around this table wants the arena to close, rest assured. Now it's a question of determining how much it would cost and how we could get involved in the project submitted by Saint-Zotique," added District 3 Councillor Patrick Lécuyer. 

"Someone suggested here tonight that an arena can't be profitable.From my point of view, that's not true: if we put on shows, we can make our money back and make a profit.I agree, and I don't want my grandson to tell me ten years from now that I contributed to its definitive closure, so for me, it's a yes," said Jean-Pierre Daoust of District 5. 

For District 1 Councillor Jonathan Henderson, the infrastructure must be preserved." Where else are the young people going to go? It's certain that there will be costs for our citizens, but I agree.I'm aware that it can be scary to create an NPO and be a stakeholder in the issue, but I can't see us being responsible for the closure. I'm sure we'll find a satisfactory solution."

For her part, Ms. Bossé said she had made some approaches to companies in the region that would be interested in establishing partnerships with the CSS to maintain the services offered and ensure their continuity. So far, the companies in question are prepared to invest a total of $80,000 in these agreements. And that's just the beginning, she says. 

"There's no doubt that this type of partnership would significantly reduce the bill for owner municipalities," concluded Mayor Yvon Chiasson. 

The elected officials did not reveal what the next steps will be, or a possible date for a referendum.We'll keep you posted.  The deadline set by the Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe is December 31.