In the middle of April with no Sens hockey on the schedule for a good five or six months, this is what passes for news.
This morning, the National Capital Commission held another public meeting of its Board of Directors and in the process, provided a brief update on the status of the negotiations for a development at LeBreton Flats.
Despite some recent skepticism from Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk that seemed to suggest the team wasn’t necessarily “all in” on a move downtown, the NCC says that talks with the RendezVous LeBreton group are proceeding as planned and that they remain on track to have a master development agreement in place by 2019.
Baby steps.
The Senators-backed bid has begun the environmental assessment of the land at LeBreton and has entered in discussions with the City of Ottawa. These are two significant barriers in the process.
#LeBreton update: RendezVous Group has begun environmental assessment & has opened its discussions with @Ottawacity. Still aiming to have a Master Development Agreement in place by 2019. #ottcity pic.twitter.com/pT7MymAZLH
— NCC-CCN (@NCC_CCN) April 19, 2018
At the last update back in January, it was clear that the decontamination required at the site remains a bit of a sticking point with some disagreement over who is ultimately responsible for the costs. Costs that have been estimated at somewhere between $50 and $200 million, by the way. Although the NCC did mention that those costs would ultimately be worked into the cost of the land.
Negotiations with the City of Ottawa could be complex as well, especially when you consider some of the past tension between Eugene Melnyk and Mayor Jim Watson. Following this morning’s Board of Directors meeting, Mayor Watson had some fairly direct comments for the Senators Owner, asking for clarification that the Melnyk is completely committed to this project.
And honestly, with the project at such a critical juncture and with more than two years already passed in this process, it’s a question that should be pretty easy for the Sens Owner to answer. That it even needs to be asked is borderline ridiculous. While it’s certainly possible that there is a little bit of posturing going on here, the City and RendezVous haven’t even started negotiating yet. Not exactly a great start to that step in the process.
RendezVous LeBreton also has a meeting scheduled with the Algonquin Nation on April 26th as part of the ongoing consultations with Indigenous communities.
It’s also worth noting that at the milestone announcement back in January, the NCC mentioned that the development of the master agreement, which includes particulars about financing for the project, could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.
A reminder of the vague timelines for the process is provided below. We’ll get downtown one day, Sens fans.
