City officials not so sure about multiplex plebiscite

Some city councillors say a plebiscite on a proposed mutliplex isn’t necessary given the amount of support they’ve heard for the project from the public.

Despite campaign promises to hold a plebiscite, Mayor Keith Hobbs said most people he’s spoken to recently support the project and the real issues now revolves around locations and price.

Similar to a public consultation meeting on the city’s south side Wednesday evening, more than 150 people at the Italian Cultural Centre Thursday seemed to be in favour of the idea of a new centre.

Hobbs said he’s been hearing loud and clear that people want to see the centre at Innova Park. The city just needs to keep consulting the public on how big they want the centre, where they want it and how much they want the city to spend.

"The public has to make this decision, not the council, not the mayor," Hobbs said. "We’re going to take the advice from public on this one."
Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds agreed.

Foulds said the most effective way for the public to get their voice heard is to attend meetings and talk with councillors about the project. The idea is still preliminary and with so many decisions to be made, it would be difficult to get the public’s input through one question.

"How do you simplify such a complex question into a yes or no?" asked the Current River councillor. "I would hate it for a nuance of a decision to totally derail a plebiscite. That’s why we elect people to have input from the public, to listen to the experts, to get knowledgeable and to make an informed decision."

A better idea might be for the city to incorporate questions on the project into its next citizens’ survey in 201, Foulds said.

City manager Tim Commisso said a scientifically valid survey like that would allow for more questions to be asked.

"I think ultimately it’s a decision that’s within council’s responsibility to make," Commisso said. "There are other ways than a plebiscite."

Most people speaking at Thursday night’s meeting were in favour of Innova Park rather than the project’s base case site at the Water Street bus terminal.

The challenge with that site is how to incorporate a big-picture concept to encourage other business, one of the key factors in building a new facility. Commisso said for an events centre to be considered successful, its program has to have one out of every three days filled.

"They’re dark facilities a lot of the time so the question is ‘what’s the plan? What’s the other development that’s really complimentary to it?’"

City council will decide June 27 whether to apply for funding through the Public Private Partnership Canada federal program. They will also be presented with a shortened list of up to three potential sites.