I watched council deal with the issue for about 12 hours yesterday, until they kicked me out to go into secret deliberations. As council does after secret deliberations, they came back into public session and voted on a cryptic motion they agreed to in closed session. The city's press release:
(Tuesday, November 9, 2010) - With an approved direction from Regional Council, HRM will now move forward to negotiate with the Province toward the development of a new Convention Centre.The media reports this morning seemed to latch onto #1 above-- and then latched onto "support"--- but, talking with some councillors today, it's clear that this is a very qualified motion.The motion approved by a 22-2 vote of Council states, that Regional Council:
1) Support the development of a new convention centre, pending the conclusion of successful negotiations with the Province and the Federal Government.
2) Direct staff to enter into negotiations with the Province based on the conditions included in the incamera presentation of November 9, 2010.
3) Not release the in-camera presentation until after any negotiations for a new convention centre are concluded
4) Immediately release all public information on HRM’s website Mayor Peter Kelly noted that with Council’s motion, HRM can now work toward replacing an aging and undersized facility with a new one of more than 306,000 square feet to be built by Rank Inc.. A privately- funded financial and residential tower and hotel would be built by Rank on the same site.
“The evidence presented shows the business case is there for government to support a replacement for the existing World Trade and Convention Centre,” said Mayor Kelly. “We will be seeking a deal with the province, federal government, and the proponent that benefits the downtown, the economy of our region and the province, and is financially acceptable to our citizens.”
HRM will immediately commence talks with the Province in order to move the project forward.
The government of Nova Scotia announced its intention to support the convention centre in October and made its initial financial request for shared support from the municipality and the federal government mid-month.
Basically, the "support" wording was intended to throw the ball back in the province's court---if agreement isn't reached, it's not because the city doesn't support it.
As I read it, the city is attempting to protect itself from the very high risk of the new convention centre not making its promised return. In real terms, that means that the operating subsidy to Trade Centre Limited would have to be far larger than the annual $1.7 "operations and maintenance" line detailed in the provincial ask (page 13) to the city.
That $1.7 would be split evenly between the city and province--$850,000 each. Last year, the city's subsidy to TCL was $570,000, and that amount increases each year only to the extent the consumer price index increases. So, even if everything goes to plan, an increase to $850,000 is substantial.
The risk is this figure balloons, and the sky's the limit. So my guess is that the city's negotiating position with the province is that the city's risk should be capped at some amount-- say, $1 million. I have no idea what the actual amount is, as it was determined in secret.
Whether that's acceptable to the province is of course unknown.
So, this is by no means a done deal. At the very least, I see negotiations continuing, maybe past Christmas and into the new year.
