With only 30 days left to make a decision on the multi-million dollar Paralympic arena, council’s time is quickly melting away.
In an effort to ensure they make the best decision for the community, Councillor Kristi Wells is preparing to ask council to approve a formal request to the Vancouver Organizing Committee to delay the decision on the arena for six more months.
She wants to explain to VANOC that there simply hasn’t been enough time to consult the community and a six-month extension could alleviate some concerns and allow council to make the most effective decision.
"That’s what I want as part of the letter to VANOC to say – that our council didn’t engage the community enough and we were sidetracked with the time it was taking to create a different opportunity and we did not engage in a parallel (public consultation) process," she said this week.
"We’re accepting accountability for this and we’re asking for you (VANOC), so that we ensure that this isn’t a white elephant, that it’s truly the legacy that was intended and it makes the best Games possible, to give us a six month extension."
She plans to make her request at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Wells isn’t the only councillor worried about the time constraints of this weighty decision.
By Sept. 30, council must decide on one of three options:
• take $20 million from VANOC and build an arena; or
• forgo building the arena altogether and take $2 million from VANOC; or
• take $8 million from VANOC and build a $10 million ice sheet at Meadow Park.
Though the third option has been the result of seven-month long negotiations between VANOC and Squamish, the local community just learned of the details of what’s proposed at the Aug. 15 council meeting.
Essentially the option was to divvy up the $20 million from VANOC.
The Paralympic arena – along with $8 million – would go to Squamish, another $8 million would go to Whistler for a second ice sheet at Meadow Park, and the remaining $4 million would go towards enhancements to the athletes centre in the Lower Cheakamus.
For months that agreement was worked on during in camera sessions as the municipality looked for approvals from the federal and provincial governments and the International Paralympic Committee.
The details of the deal could not be made public, much to the frustration of many community members. Several councillors are now expressing some regret that the deal was not made public sooner.
"In retrospect we probably could have handled it in a better way that would have resulted in less public angst," said Councillor Nick Davies. "But we try and do what we think is right at the time and unfortunately in this case the community, or at least some aspects of the community, are upset with us."
And though the details of that option still aren’t totally clear in that Squamish is now looking for more than $8 million from VANOC, the deal is still on the table. And it is municipal staff’s recommendation that council accept this deal.
Council’s decision, however, has become even more muddied after a public open house on Saturday.
Unlike most public open houses in Whistler, the meeting drew upwards of 280 community members to the Spruce Grove Field House over the course of five hours.
Councillor Marianne Wade was at the community meeting, the first of which has been held on the arena, and like other councillors who attended, she discovered a community eager to be engaged, to offer feedback and still wondering about all of Whistler’s options.
From Wade’s perspective, and her conversations at the meeting, there was a 50/50 split in the room, with half concerned about funding the long term operating costs of a large arena in the village and the other half worried about the opportunity cost of turning down $20 million and the potential to build a "lasting legacy" in the village.
"I feel that the community is still searching for those answers," she said this week. "I think it puts council in an interesting position about how to move forward."
She also talked about a possible extension on the decision.
"I don’t think it’s a bad idea," she said.
Councillor Gordon McKeever agreed that Sept. 30 is just not enough time, especially after the outpouring of interest at the open house.
"I think it behooves us to fortify the community engagement with further outreach but I think that (the open house has) given us a really good taste of the priorities that are out there and it’s also given some viable alternatives," he said. "This just reinforces the horsepower that’s in the community."
One of those alternatives which has recently come to the table is a proposal by a local business owner, Norbert Doebelin, which would see an arena in the village on Lot 1/Lot 9. His model, unlike the models proposed by municipal staff, is not a stand-alone arena. Instead it incorporates an arena as one of a number of public buildings housing educational and cultural facilities. A culinary school, a satellite campus for a post secondary institution, and space for artists, artisans, dance schools and sports clubs are all part of Doeblin’s concept.
While Councillor Ken Melamed sees the importance of investigating this proposal further, he has yet to be dissuaded from his position of supporting staff’s recommendation. And after the open house he got the feeling most people in the community, like himself, were supporting the $8 million option.
"I still think that staff’s preferred option is the way to go," he said this week.
"I’m prepared to support the option unless something comes forward."
In other words, unless the open house questionnaires reveal there is overwhelming public support to accept VANOC’s $20 million and build an arena, or unless someone can put forward a new economic case to build the arena, he stands firm on his current position.
Davies had a somewhat different read on the community from his conversations. For the past week he has been doing an informal poll around town, either calling people or asking them face-to-face.
Essentially he wants to know if Whistler should take a risk, accept the $20 million and find a creative solution to build an arena in the village or be more conservative and simply build a second ice sheet at Meadow Park for $8 million.
"And overwhelmingly, absolutely overwhelmingly, people are saying ‘we know enough about construction costs, we know enough about the demands for space for Whistler, take the $20 million, let’s take a bit of a risk here," said Davies. "There seems to be a real sentiment, from my informal polling, that we know enough about this and we’re optimistic enough about our future that we should take the $20 million and assume that we can make it all work."
He estimates he has polled roughly 55 to 60 people to date. The results he said have surprised him.
"I’m surprised at some of the people who I thought would be very risk adverse, in particular business people in this community who have been around here a long time and understand the risks and people who I know well who I thought would say ‘oh Nick, now is not the time to take a risk, now is the time to be very, very careful,’" said Davies.
"I think maybe what people are seeing is the economy is not performing nearly as well as we would like and that may be part of why people are reacting in that way. People have an entrepreneurial spirit and they’re saying ‘we need to take a little risk here, we need to get things in this community kick started, we need to be able to offer the indoor recreation for our guests. The big box arena isn’t the answer but let’s do something.’"
He has also been thinking about an extension but has yet to make up his mind on whether that’s a worthwhile decision.
Davies said if they simply opt to take the $20 million there will be lots of time to decide what sort of facility Whistler needs, with plenty of time for public consultation.
"I will have made that decision in my mind by the time this comes to council," he said. "I think most councillors think long and hard about these things and probably vacillate back and forth in our minds."
Councillor Wade is also wondering if there is something that they have overlooked.
"We have all the information to make a decision about a traditional (arena) model but I don’t think that we have all the information to make a decision about a more creative, out-of-the-box (model)," said Wade.
"My mind goes to: is there a third option here? Is there something that blends the two?"
And that’s a question on many minds.
Under the Games Venue Agreement, which was signed by the RMOW and the Bid Corp (now VANOC) in December 2002, Whistler was to have delivered a decision by the end of July 2005. Earlier this summer, Whistler asked for more time and VANOC extended the deadline to Sept. 30.
Council was to have made up their mind at a Sept. 6 council meeting following the open house.
After Saturday’s open house, however, municipal staff moved decision day on the arena from the Sept. 6 council meeting to the Sept. 19 council meeting, buying just two more weeks before council takes a vote.
The move to delay this weighty decision by two weeks was vetted by VANOC before being made public this week.
VANOC spokesperson Renée Smith-Valade said the short delay would not have an impact for their organization and they are trying to work with Whistler and accommodate the community’s need for more information, more public engagement.
"We can work within that timeline," she said. "We’re simply taking our cues from (Whistler) so if they can come to a decision at the council meeting on Sept. 19 that’s great. If they find that the council meeting leaves them with more questions than answers, if they were to come to us and suggest that they needed another week or two, we’re willing to entertain that."
She said VANOC has not set a final date for when the decision must be made. As with all the venues, VANOC would like the arena to be built by 2008 so the athletes can use it for training.
That being the case, work on the arena would need to begin in spring 2006, giving VANOC a two-year construction timetable.
"We would certainly like a decision this fall but in terms of setting an actual date or outside limit, no," said Smith-Valade.
Squamish Mayor Ian Sutherland said he would also like to have a decision sooner than later. Part of the deal for a successful arena in Squamish is to have a permanent tenant in the building. Squamish has been in negotiations with the Chilliwack Chiefs Junior A hockey team to relocate the franchise there.
"They require a new home in the not too distant future," said Sutherland.
Though the arena is off the agenda for the Sept. 6 meeting, it looks as though Wells may force a discussion by asking for a formal extension that evening. An extra couple of weeks she said is simply not enough time.
"Our community has expressed extreme interest in being engaged. This is hugely important on a whole bunch of fronts. We can’t do it in less than six months, who are we kidding?" she said.
"Maybe it’s time for a new council to get engaged in it. Pass the torch. I’d love to make the decision and be part of that in this phase but… maybe it’s a really good one to set up the new council for something to sink their teeth into right away."
