Minden Hills is looking at the options to pay for the S.G. Nesbitt renovations, including one option from the province.
Last week, during the regular meeting of council on Thursday, Infrastructure Ontario’s Senior Relationship Manager Gavin Maitland spoke with the councillors to give them insight into the types of loans they offer to municipalities.
According to Maitland, Infrastructure Ontario is a government agency through the Ministry of Infrastructure, and its loan program is accessible to all of the municipalities across the province.  Maitland says it’s designed in such a way that any capital asset project can be eligible, like a $12 million arena renovation. He says that the loan program offers two options, a short term construction loan or long-term financing.
If Minden Hills was to move forward with the I.O. loan, Maitland explained that they have flexible terms ranging from five years to 30 years. Which Maitland explained have varying interest rates. For the five year terms, the rate is 2.70 per cent for an amortizer loan and the same for a serial loan. The 30-year loan is 3.58 per cent for the amortizer loan while the serial loan is 3.54 per cent.
If Minden Hills council does go forward with the I.O. loan, the approval process takes two weeks.
After Maitland gave the presentation, the council received it for information and it will be one possible avenue they look at to offset the price tag for the arena.