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Town spent $50,000 last year on emergency repairs to facilities CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Close to $50,000 was spent on emergency repairs to Town facilities in 2006. During the off-season maintenance of Memorial Arena's refrigeration system it showed that the 40-year-old compressor could fail at any time. In addition, the cost to repair the worn parts exceeded the cost to buy a new one, so one was purchased and installed for $36,700, plus GST. This equipment could be relocated to another town facility if the 85-year-old Memorial Arena is closed in the future (During the 2006 budget discussions, staff recommended that an arena replacement be explored before 2014.) Last spring, a furnace technician, called to repair the heating at the Churchill Rd. fire station, told the Town that two of the four furnaces could not be repaired and were taken off-line. An energy audit showed that the furnaces could be replaced with two-stage infrared heaters with setback controllers, improving energy efficiency by as much as 25 per cent. The price to install the new equipment was $13,290, plus GST. Annual savings of $2,237 is expected to pay back the price in about six years. Both emergency replacements were funded from the Repairs, Maintenance and Revitalization Reserve. Storm forces school boards to close all schools today Due to the inclement weather, all Halton Catholic District School Board and Halton District School Board schools will be closed and buses cancelled today (Wednesday). Both board administration centres in Burlington will also be closed. Updates as they become available can be found on the Catholic board's website-- www.hcdsb.org or the HDSB site-- www.haltondsb.on.ca