During a special meeting of North Bay City Council on Friday afternoon, elected officials held a closed-door meeting and emerged with a consensus on an ad hoc arena committee.
Councillor Lana Mitchell, also the chair of council's infrastructure and operations committee, will head the community and recreation centre ad hoc committee. Its other members are Councillors Mac Bain, Gary Gardiner, Jamie Lowery and Chris Mayne. Mayor Peter Chirico is an ex-officio member of the committee and will only vote in the event of a tie.
See the video above for comments from Mayor Peter Chirico and Coun. Lana Mitchell, the committee's chairperson.
A final decision was not reached during Tuesday evening's special committee meeting but North Bay City Council members unanimously recommended forming this separate committee to decide the direction of the twin-pad arena and community centre proposal within 30 days.
See related: Arena saga continues: Committee recommends creating committee
And: What we learned from the arena meeting
One week prior, an amendment was tabled by Mitchell and Coun. Justine Mallah, pushing a decision on the proposed twin-pad arena and community centre pushed back to that Aug. 15 special committee meeting.
See also: Council puts arena decision temporarily on ice
The terms of reference for the Ad Hoc Community and Recreation Centre Committee
Mandate:
- Identifying an affordable project upset limit
- Confirming the location of the new community centre
- Reviewing the options to deliver the project as outlined in Report to Council No. IO-2023-16 dated August 1
The committee shall provide a report to the Infrastructure and Operations Committee no later than September 19 regarding the project upset limit; the recreational and community needs that must be addressed by the facility; and, the location of the facility in a way that balances fiscal responsibility and recreational and community needs.
The guiding principles of the committee shall be:
- Build a healthy and active community
- Provide inclusive and accessible recreational opportunities
- Multi-use and multi-generational
- Modern and responsive to community needs
- Support sport tourism initiatives
- Foster and support partnerships
- Financially responsible
- Strategic approaches for the long-term
