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Old Posted Jun 7, 2013, 12:23 AM
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from today's T&T:
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=11180

Big events centre vote looms
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Times & Transcript
By: Brent Mazerolle

Impact study to be released on Monday, vote on purchase of Highfield Square expected the following week

Moncton city council has scheduled a special public meeting for Monday that will be one of the most important held to date on the future of the proposed downtown events centre.

But even it will be eclipsed by the council meeting a week later, when council decides whether or not to invest millions in purchasing the land to build it.

The special meeting will get underway at 2 p.m. in the council chamber on Monday. The agenda will have just one item - the presentation of an economic impact study on the proposed centre by economic development consultant David Campbell and Université de Moncton economics professor Pierre Marcel Desjardins.

Mayor George LeBlanc said it is probably 'the last big piece of the information' council and the public need as they weigh the pros and cons of going forward with the events centre idea.

Two previous internal reports - one reviewing all that has transpired in the years-long city file and mapping what steps would have to come next, and another laying out a 30-year financial plan for the city as a whole with a new centre a part of it - have been publicly presented in the last two months.

This report, besides looking at the specific issue of potential economic impact, also offers yet another valuable independent perspective on the overall project by outside experts.

While it's sure to spur an interesting and probably lengthy public discussion, Monday's meeting will not end with city council making any big decisions.

That will come one week later with the biggest decision on the file to date, whether to invest in the idea with the $6-million purchase of the Highfield Square property.

As LeBlanc put it yesterday, 'you can't build a home without buying land.' Until now, the City of Moncton has spent comparatively small amounts of money on the necessary studies and due diligence for the project, as well as paying $25,000 to have an option on the land. But on June 17, council will deliberate the spending of the millions of dollars.

'Should council refuse to buy the land, it's over,' LeBlanc said of the plan for the centre. On the other hand, if council buys the land but ultimately votes against building the centre down the road, the city will at least have a say in the development of one of the downtown's most important parcels.

The city did that with the former Beaver Lumber property off Assomption Boulevard in the late 1990s, and though it was a long journey with plenty of obstacles and a few pitfalls, the strategy ultimately worked. Most of the land is now taken up by the Rogers contact centre, now one of the city's largest employers, and the new state-ofthe-art Moncton Law Courts. And though the roughly dozen years might seem long to the general public, it wasn't an unusual timeline in the world of development.

Asked if he could predict how the vote might go, the mayor said, 'I'm optimistic council will make a positive decision for Moncton, but it will be up to council to decide.' Also on June 17, council is expected to make a second related decision. Following the evaluation of the three responses the city received to its request for qualifications from developers interested in the project, the council will vote on whether to direct staff to start a request for proposals process for those developers deemed qualified.

It would only be after the RFP was issued and answered that council would have its final vote on the events centre project, something that is a year off even if the idea is still alive after the June 17 meeting.

Personal note - The next couple of weeks should be very interesting. I especially look forward to hearing the report on the potential economic impact of this development. Regardless, I fully expect to see city council vote next week to purchase the Highfield Square site. Even if the decision is ultimately to pass on the events centre at this time, this piece of land is too important to allow to go to waste for the next 40-50 years. By purchasing the property, the city will have firm control in how it gets developed, no matter what.....
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