Welcome to that special spot between a rock and a hard place.

That's where the Austin City Council and Mayor Bonnie Rietz find themselves: Build a new ice skating facility, or hold on to all city funds in anticipation of continuing state budget deficit problems and the impact on city government.

The regular meeting of the Austin City Council, beginning 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Austin Municipal Building, will find officials at another crossroads on the much-beleaguered ice skating facility project.

Hockey parents still drive to Kasson, Owatonna and Albert Lea where their sons and daughters practice hockey.

Austin-based teams play their "home" games on ice in other communities. They say the need is there for another sheet of ice and a practice rink.

But critics say Riverside Arena is enough and the annual $100,000 in red ink it generates, as well as looming uncertainty over the future of local government aid, are red flags.

Supporters are positively excited at the opportunity of using public and private sector funds to accomplish a project they say is needed in Austin: Renovate riverside Arena into a multi-purpose facility and add a practice ice rink in an area of the city needing rehabilitation.

From the private sector, Larry Lyons, who represents both Hormel Foods Corporation and the Austin Youth Hockey Association and figure skating interests, while heading a Riverside Arena facilities committee, too, said built it now or else.

"This project is as vital today as it was any other day," Lyons said. "In fact, the needs is there more so today than every before.

"This is it for this project. It is only $70,000 away from being fully funded. What other project of this magnitude, a $3.2 million public facility, can make that claim anywhere? The option of posting it again is non-existence," Lyons said.

The city's total budget estimate for both the renovation of Riverside Arena and the new facility is $4.54 million, according to Tom Dankert, city finance director.

The funding breakdown includes: $800,000, Mower County; $300,000, Hormel Foundation; $699,000, Hormel Foods Corporation; $250,000, Austin Youth Hockey Association/Riverside Figure Skating Club; $259,000, matching grant from Hormel Foods Corporation;

$250,000, Mighty Ducks grant from Minnesota Amateur Athletic Commission; $290,000, Austin Utilities grant for geo thermal energy measures; and $1.8 million, city of Austin.

According to Dankert, Hormel Foods Corporation has donated the land where the new ice skating facility could be constructed between the Cedar River and 7th Street Northeast and north of 5th Avenue Northeast. The land has a value of $250,000, bringing the Hormel Foods Corporation private sector funding to $1.1 million … second only

to the city of Austin's share of the anticipated project costs.