NEW: Hear audio from last night’s meeting:
Mayor Melissa Blake’s speech to council: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/melissa-blake-speech.mp3]
Mayor Melissa Blake’s post-council media scrum: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/melissa-blake-scrum.mp3]
Ron Taylor’s post-council media scrum: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/ron-taylor-scrum.mp3]
Councillor Phil Meagher speaks to Evan Cooke about his “No” vote: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/phil-meagher.mp3]
Councillor Russell Thomas’ speech to council: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/russell-thomas-speech.mp3]
Councillor Allan Vinni’s speech to council: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/council-april-9/allan-vinni-speech.mp3]
After a marathon session, Wood Buffalo council has voted to move ahead with the downtown arena project and expropriate downtown businesses.
Council approved the plan by an 8-2 vote just before 1 AM.
In favour were Mayor Melissa Blake and councillors Sheldon Germain, Russell Thomas, David Blair, Christine Burton, Colleen Tatum, Allan Vinni, and Jane Stroud. Opposed were Phil Meagher and Dave Kirschner, while Sonny Flett was absent.
In an impassioned speech before the vote, Mayor Melissa Blake said she couldn’t bring herself to oppose it.
“It would be like saying no to Macdonald Island five years ago, and where would we be now?” she asked the chamber. “So for the purpose of what I think is so important for our future, I will put my neck on the line, and I will say that I’m sorry I have to disappoint anyone.”
Blake says she heard the opposition, but feels the comparison to Mac Island is apt.
“I can tell you, we lived with many criticisms on that process,” she recalled. “The community all said no to begin with, and we did it anyways, and in the end, I can’t imagine life here without it.”
The city will take possession of the A&W and Wolff-Taitinger Law Office buildings, as well as the Nomad Inn parking lot.
“It’s not just an arena,” Blake emphasized. “It’s also retail, and a catalyst for restaurants, and entertainment-type facilities that you see in other communities, and we desperately need here, but they wouldn’t come on their own; so this starts it.”
The redevelopment’s executive developer says their work has just begun.
During the debate, Ron Taylor assured councillors that parking at the arena will not be an issue.
“We’re going to maximize on-street parking, because that’s good for business,” he said. “We’re going to enforce bylaws to prevent vehicles from parking on streets, and that’s something that hogs the parking that we have. We’re going to replace surface parking lots with parking structures in new developments.”
He says they’ll put out a request for proposals from 4 shortlisted companies this month, and pick one to build the arena later this year.
“We have, in my opinion, a very competent set of proponents,” Taylor said. “I’m actually more confident here that we will succeed, than I have been in many others; and I’ve worked over the last 20 years on both sides.”
The arena is scheduled to open in late 2016 or early 2017.
Taylor says he’s sympathetic to the businesses that are being expropriated.
“In expropriation, someone gets hurt, and that’s not good,” he said. “And I think we want to do everything in our power to work with the affected parties; we don’t want any businesses to fail, or to falter.”
He says they’ll aim to have those businesses vacated by the end of the year.
One of the councillors who voted no, Phil Meagher, is the longest serving councilor with 18 years of service under his belt.
He said that was one of the reasons that led him to vote against going forward with the project.
“I think the longer you’ve been here, the harder this is,” he said. “As one of the long-time councilors, it’s hard to see people that you’ve known for years being kind of moved out. Almost bullied out.”
In total, 34 residents were able to share their opinions with council.
Meagher did say the massive public turnout was something he was encouraged by.
“We had good democratic process tonight,” he said. “If anything was positive about it, it was good that we had a good debate and that people showed their love for this town.”
He said even with all his colleagues voting in favour, it wasn’t difficult to go against the grain.
“Not for me. I only do that when I have good reason, and I think I had good reason tonight. Things just didn’t feel right to me,” he said.
