St. Paul – Hockey players eager to get back on the ice will have to wait a little longer in St. Paul this fall.

The Town has confirmed Sept. 25 for ice at Clancy Richard Arena and Oct. 2 for CAP Arena, after an earlier request from St. Paul Minor Hockey prompted questions at Monday night’s council meeting.

CAO Steven Jeffery said administration has already discussed the request and communicated the decision to user groups.

“The decision is not necessarily agreed with by some of our user groups, and that’s why council got an email after,” Jeffery said.

Ultimately, he said, the issue comes down to the number of jobs Parks and Recreation staff are juggling at the same time.

“This year, what it’s come down to is staffing and the ability to put ice in early.”

Rodeo, pool maintenance and ice season all collide

A hockey camp had been advertised for Sept. 18, but Jeffery said the Town had not committed to having ice available by then.

“We had communicated with Minor Hockey that it would be in the week later on the 25th,” he said.

The timing is particularly difficult this year because Rodeo Week pushes arena cleanup later into September.

“We can’t start both plants at the same time,” Jeffery said. “That’s the staffing levels that we have. We don’t have an ability to do that.”

September is also the annual shutdown and maintenance period at the pool.

Meanwhile, the regular work doesn’t disappear.

“Grass still needs to be cut. Parks still need to be cleaned,” Jeffery said.

By then, the Town’s summer students are also finished for the season.

Earlier CAP ice considered

Administration had considered making CAP Arena available around Sept. 11.

The problem was that user groups weren’t prepared to commit to using the ice that early.

That could have left the Town operating an ice plant for a week or two without bookings.

Starting earlier would also mean turning the plant on during August, when temperatures could still be high.

Jeffery said he and Parks and Recreation Director Harvey Smyl would like to see the season start earlier if it were operationally possible.

“We’d love to see ice in earlier in this community,” Jeffery said. “We’re just not quite there with the facilities that we have and the levels of staffing that it requires to do so.”

For this fall, the dates remain Sept. 25 at Clancy Richard Arena and Oct. 2 at CAP Arena.