AUBURN — Hockey boosters said a new dual rink ice arena would be a big boost for them and for area business.

“For the kids, playing hockey at a two-rink arena is very cool,” Julie Anne Shaw of Lake Street said. Her daughter Savannah plays for the Auburn Youth Hockey program.

Shaw said she took her daughter to Dover, N.H., for a tournament at that city’s ice arena.

“It was wonderful to go back and forth between the two sheets of ice and see kids play,” she said. “They hosted their state tournaments and that was just packed. What an opportunity for Auburn, to be able to host state tournaments and bring all of those people together.”

City councilors will take up the question again at their next meeting, Monday, June 25. Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said he would expect councilors to reach some sort of consensus.

“At some point, we are going to have to find out where councilors want to zero in,” LaBonte said. “There are a number of pieces and I think councilors need to start understanding what would be entailed in an authorization and what they expect.”

But councilors did have some concerns about the plan presented Monday night.

The plan calls for developer George Schott to bear most of the upfront costs — borrowing the $8.5 million to build the facility, leasing it back to the city each year for 30 years. The city would have the option of buying the property outright every five years or could take over at the end of 30 years.

Operations and debt service costs would be paid for entirely with proceeds from ice rink revenues, according to Public Services Team Leader Denis D’Auteuil. He estimated $1.25 million in revenues and $1.24 million in expenses the first year — a $5,687 profit the first year. That would increase to an estimated $34,119 by the fifth year, according to a financial pro forma.

That’s a narrow profit range, Councilor Joshua Shea said.

“If you are off on the bottom line and expenditures in excess of revenue and there ends up being a shortfall, will that money be covered in the Parks and Recreation budget?” he asked. “These are razor thin profits. They could triple or quadruple profits, but they could just as easily go the other way.”

The new ice surfaces would replace Auburn’s Ingersoll Ice Arena in Pettengill Park, home to several hockey programs — from youth hockey to adult leagues.

That includes the boys’ high school hockey teams from Edward Little, Leavitt and Poland-Gray/New Gloucester, and the combined girls’ hockey programs from Edward Little and Leavitt Area high schools.

It would also include the newly combined Auburn Youth Hockey and the Lewiston Area Youth Hockey League. Last season, the two leagues had more than 950 players enrolled.

Recreation officials estimate demand for an arena with seats for as many as 2,000 ice hockey spectators.

“It’s reasonable for us to expect demand for ice time to increase by at least 1,200 hours,” D’Auteuil said. “Now that the two programs have merged, they represent the second largest program in the state with more than 800 youth participating.”

The proposed rink would have seats for 1,200 spectators in one rink, 200 in a second rink, 300 in a shared mezzanine and standing room for hundreds more. The new arena should also feature 14 locker rooms for teams, a pro shop and second floor warm spectator area with a concessions stand.

The city is looking at two possible sites for the arena, and councilors didn’t seem to favor either Monday night.

One would be on the 75 acres currently owned by the YMCA, south of Stetson Road and east of Center Street.

A second option is the 8.5 acre lot west of Shaw’s on Turner Street’s east side, behind the Masonic Temple and north of the Auburn Mall. That lot is owned by George Schott.

D’Auteuil said Schott’s land would be less expensive to develop, costing up to $600,000 to build entrances onto Turner Street and develop parking.

The YMCA site would cost up to $1.5 million to build site access.

But YMCA officials said they’re site had other benefits. Their plan calls for building their own recreation facility and athletic field on the Stetson Road site.

“We’d like to share in our site,” Brian DuBois, executive director of the Auburn Lewiston YMCA, said. “That means shared parking, shared maintenance and lower costs to each entity. And we have other potential programs that could be shared with the city. The point to emphasize here is one of future potential.”

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