Presentation being streamed live on Internet
CATHERINE ROLFSEN
Sun
OLYMPICS Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem is today scheduled to give a public presentation, streamed live on the Internet, on the state of financing for the troubled Olympic Village development.
The presentation is expected to be similar to a briefing given to reporters at city hall Friday, when it was revealed that city taxpayers are on the hook for the entire billion-dollar development and that the lender has cut off funding for construction.
Also expected today is a status update on a review of the project by the city’s external auditors, KPMG, Coun. Geoff Meggs said Sunday.
Today’s meeting, beginning at 2 p. m. at city council chambers, can be viewed live at www. vancouver. ca. Members of the public can attend, but there will be no public submissions accepted during the discussion, Meggs said.
Friday’s media briefing was originally planned for today as well, but was bumped forward after The Vancouver Sun reported on Friday that the project’s U. S. financier, Fortress Investment Group, is asking the City of Vancouver to guarantee most of the $ 750 million loan to developers, Millennium Development.
“ On Friday there was a decision to go forward because of a concern about rumours and to make sure the information out there was correct,” Meggs said.
In Friday’s briefing, media were told that the city had signed a “ completion guarantee” making it legally liable for the project’s cost, estimated at $ 875 million. The remainder of the project’s value is in land already owned by the city.
Later this week, Mayor Gregor Robertson will be in Ottawa lobbying the federal government before the federal budget, and Olympic Village financing is expected to be brought up. The mayor has also been discussing the subject with the province.
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