'Last-minute proposal' for old Moncton high school divides council

A deep divide continued on Moncton city council this week, with five councillors voting to support a new and, so far, private proposal for the old Moncton High School and five voting against.

In the end, Mayor Dawn Arnold broke thetie with her vote to senda letter of support to the provincial government, which owns the downtown heritage building,

If we have now another proposal before us by a reputable business group ... we owe it to the citizens to see it.- Deputy Mayor Blair Lawrence

The letter will indicate city council agrees the proposed plan for the old high school is in keeping withMoncton'svision for redeveloping the site.

Although councillors appeared to have strong feelings about the issue, they did not make public any details of what was called a last-minute proposal.

They said it was up to the authors of the proposal, Terra Trust and Bird Construction, to decide when to let the public what they have in mind.

The council vote this week doesn't mean theproposal will go ahead. The vote does declare thatthe proposal is worthy of a more detailed plan from the developers,which acommittee of provincial and city officials would then examine.

Another group, MH Renaissance Inc., is still waiting for a final response from the City of Moncton and the provincial government after submittinga plan for a performing arts centre and office space that could include the public library, known as MH35.

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Dennis Cochrane, the group's president, said in December that he was hopeful he would have an answer soon.

The city has said the provincial and citycommittee would continue to analyze the proposal.

A December news release said an independent analysis of the implications ofmoving the library was underway and a staff report on the findings would be provided by the end of February.

New proposal 'a slap in the face'

On Monday night, little information was released about the new proposal for the heritage building, but deputy mayor Blair Lawrence said he was "encouraged" 2017 willbe the year council comes up with a resolution for the old MHS building.

Coun. PauletteThriaultvoted against supporting the new proposal and said she was embarrassedby council's finaldecision.

"We do not have much information and I think it's very premature to send a letter to the province, which could really jeopardize the entire preservation," she said.

Thriault alsonotedthere was no indication whether the auditorium would remain in tact under the proposal, something that is not a question under the MH Renaissance Inc. plan.

After working on the other proposalfor two years, she felt that supporting a competing ideawould be "a slap in the face" to the citizens behind MH Renaissance Inc.

'We owe it to the citizens to see it'

In December, afterMonctoncouncil approved controversial salary raises for the mayor and council, Coun. Shawn Crossman said adeep divisionhademerged among council members since he, Coun. Paul Pellerin and Coun. Bryan Butler opposed the salary increases.

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On Monday night, the same three councillors, along withThriault and Coun. Pierre Boudreau,voted against supporting the new MHS proposal.

"This is something that has come to us at the very last minute," Thriaulttold the mayor."It almost looks like we're trying to find something or somebody to come up with any kind of an idea as long as we get it off the table and I find that very disturbing."

Crossmansaid he had a long list of reasons he didn't want to support the new proposal but couldn't bring them up at the meeting because council had agreed it would be up to Bird Construction and Terra Trust to share the details.

"My concern is ... the future of the auditorium as well as the gym keeping it intact but not only keeping that part of the building intact but the entire school intact," Crossman said.

CBC News has not been able to reach anyone at Terra Trust and Bird Construction for information about their proposal.

Lawrence stood by council's decision to send a letter of support for the new proposal, arguing city council isn't making a commitment but ratherkeeping its options open.

"If we have now another proposal before us by a reputable business group ... we owe it to the citizens to see it," Lawrence said of the new proposal.

"It may not fly for us at all, MH35 may not fly for us ... but we have an obligation to our taxpayers to look at an option that may suit the city better."