Just heard word back from a couple sources who were able to attend Executive Committee this afternoon.

Top of the agenda was discussion around a report from Administration with regards to the way forward on Parcel “Y” – better known as the (former) Lake Placid development.

Mr. Lobsinger of Lake Placid Developments confirmed to Committee that he has still not received his financing, despite assurances to the contrary last week at City Council and afterwards in the media scrum (story here).  He once again cautioned Councillors that sending the process back to the beginning and issuing another Request For Proposal would result in a long delay for any shovels being put in the ground at Parcel “Y”.

Several Councillors spoke to moving ahead ASAP, including Councillors Penner, Wyant, and Heidt. Councillor Clark spoke on the potential opportunity being presented to the City to take a fresh look at what is intended for Parcel “Y”, while Councillor Paulsen suggested engaging the local development community (those not interested in developing Parcel “Y”) to see what the City could do to open up the zoning to make things more palatable for potential developers.

No decision was made on how to proceed with the future of Parcel “Y” and it looks like it will remain in a holding pattern for the foreseeable future as the Committee asked Administration to report back on possible ways of opening up the zoning set for the site. This move possibly allowing extra time for Lake Placid to finally secure their financing in hopes of reviving their failed agreement in some new form.

Update I: David Hutton reports on the days events and indicates that some Councillors want to look at selling the land directly to Lake Placid Developments should they come up with their financing (story here)

Update II: The most interesting argument of the entire meeting yesterday would have to go to Councillor Penner. While arguing that the City should deal with Lake Placid if they were able to produce the money he suggested that (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the “new” council shouldn’t be saddled with the decisions of the “old” council, so the drop dead date placed on the Lake Placid deal of Oct 30th should have no bearing on things. A technically valid argument, though no indication on how that would sit with Saskatoon residents.