CBC Council Arena Meeting Commentary

Get your tickets early. It’s going to be standing room only. The Council chamber seats are going fast for the next great arena debate that is to take place on Wednesday evening.

We were supposed to compare project ice track with 2 other proposals. Except now, the raceway people have left us and have been welcomed by the Town of Tecumseh. So what are we going to talk about? According to the mayor, it was about something to be built in the east end. However, yesterday two new proposals were just put forward for downtown arenas.

I assume the focus will still be that big, thick report from administration. But in my opinion, that whole report was a mere diversion, to distract our attention. The deck was stacked so that the mayor and council got exactly what they wanted: namely an east end deal.

After all, they agreed on that last April in a Thursday council meeting. Why consider anything else now? Of course at the time, news reports said that “the meeting to present the proposal came out of the blue and had a few Councillors concerned about the lack of public notice.”

But that’s just a detail.

Getting it rubberstamped by the public must be the purpose of the meeting on Wednesday.

Now I say this because in the in the report, no matter which option was picked, there was one key action item. Administration was authorized to enter into negotiations for the acquisition of the required lands in the East end of the city.

Tell me though. Can anyone actually figure out why council wants to go to the East end so badly? I know that ward 5 is the Mayor’s home base but is there any other good reason?

Honestly, I have no idea why the City all of a sudden wants to go it alone there. When the Mayor was running for office he said specifically:

• "We need to revive the idea of public/private partnership for a new arena. It is the only realistic strategy available that will ensure that this project will become a reality.
  
  A multipurpose facility cannot be built by public nor the private sector interests acting alone. The synergy created by the private/public partnerships gives better service to the taxpayer, and allows a much needed multipurpose facility to be built in our city.
  
  A public/private partnership is the key to our arena’s ongoing success and viability. Council has already allocated the required money and land for this project – we need to aggressively seek a partner."

What changed now… interestingly, he was talking about a downtown arena then. Why is what the Mayor said 3 years ago wrong today.

We found a partner. Project Ice Track was proposed by two respected families in Windsor. I know it was in the West end, at the Raceway, but wouldn’t that be easier for American tourists to find rather than say, some land near Tecumseh and Lauzon road?

The Toldos and Rosattis are not fly by night operators. They proposed a public/private partnership in which they were willing to take on many risks to make this project go forward. Obviously, there were some concerns in what they proposed. It requires negotiating an agreement. The Mayor should know something about negotiating shouldn’t he since he went to law school.

The Collavino proposal in the East end is a "design-build" only. In the end, the project is the City’s risk. Once Collavino builds it, they walk away from it and taxpayers are stuck with any deficiencies.

If we need new icepads, why do we need to go out and buy land in the east end and spend more millions of taxpayer dollars when Riverside can be rebuilt? I am told that there is sufficient property for a twinned ice rink there if we need it.

I am sorry. I think something strange is going on. All of a sudden we have to be the first to put the shovel in the ground in the east. Why?

We are being pressed to make a decision on Wednesday night when we do not have the complete facts. As an example, do you really think that an arena complex in Port Huron that was priced in 1999 at around $60 million can be built for $48 million today?

The Mayor and Council need to be in the business of running the City, not running an arena in the East end.

I feel that I am being played. And the game is not hockey.