Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan wants to fast track a decision on where to build a new Sudbury Arena.
Kirwan has been vocal in his support of Dario Zulich's plan to build an arena/events centre on The Kingsway since Zulich announced late in July that he was buying the Sudbury Wolves.
The city is spending as much as $275,000 on a consultant to help it determine the criteria for an RFP for the new arena, as well as to prepare the actual RFP itself. That process was expected to take until June of next year.
On Tuesday, Kirwan introduced a notice of motion calling for the criteria to be determined by Dec. 13 of this year, with the RFP being issued by Dec. 30, with a Jan. 31, 2017, closing date. Under Kirwan's motion, councillors would see the results of the RFP bidding process by Feb. 14.
The motion will be dealt with at the September city council meeting. But after Tuesday's meeting, Mayor Brian Bigger said staff is already immersed in the 2017 budget process, and the RFP isn't a process that should be rushed.
However, he said they are now aiming to have something ready by the end of March 2017.
