THUNDER BAY – Mayor Bill Mauro says he remains uncertain what next steps on a proposed indoor turf facility could look like, ahead of a special meeting of city council to consider the issue Thursday evening.
Numerous alternative visions for the project had already been considered by council, and rejected in favour of the concept endorsed in principle last year, the mayor noted.
“[This council] entertained other options fully two years ago," he said. "We said no as a group to these other options – it’s why we spent two years going down the path we did.”
That leaves the ball in the court of councillors who expressed support for the project, but voted not to award a $37 million tender for it to Tom Jones earlier this year, Mauro suggested.
Several councillors said they remained committed to seeing an indoor turf facility built, but expressed concerns over the timing, given the financial uncertainty of COVID-19, as well as the project's rising price tag.
“To be honest, I’m simply going to be listening,” Mauro said of Thursday’s special meeting. “I’ll be interested to hear what other councillors who still say they’re committed to something, what that something may be.”
Thursday’s meeting, which will be broadcast on television and livestreamed online beginning at 5:30 p.m., will include a presentation from city administration reviewing the current status of the project and setting out potential next steps.
Councillors cannot move motions and no public deputations are allowed at the special non-business meeting.
Mauro didn’t expect to see specific proposals from city staff on alternative funding or design models, he said. The meeting agenda notes city manager Norm Gale will advise on when administration will return to council with a report and recommendations.
“My interpretation is they need to hear from council what if any decisions they want,” Mauro said. “No councillor to this point has suggested an alternative approach. As a result, administration needs direction.”
The city has allocated about $18 million in reserve funds for the project, with the existing funding plan calling for a more than $16 million debenture to fund the remainder.
The mayor said he won’t call for the city to allocate $6.6 million in additional federal gas tax funds it will receive this year to the indoor turf reserves, as it did last year with $6.9 million in supplemental gas tax funding meant to assist municipalities during the pandemic.
“We’re in a position where council has said no to the award of the tender,” he explained. “We clearly need to decide what will be the next steps, if any, before any decisions are made.”
However the additional gas tax funds are spent, he called it good news, noting it was something the city and bodies like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) had advocated for.
“We’re thrilled,” he said. “The basket of opportunities that it can be applied to is very broad, sport and recreation being part of that.”
The funds can also be applied to things like transit and municipal infrastructure including drinking water, waste, and disaster mitigation.
City administration is expected to report back in the second quarter of the year with recommendations on where the additional $6.6 million could be spent.
Thursday’s special meeting on the indoor turf facility can be watched on television and streamed online starting at 5:30 p.m. More details are available at the city’s website.
