A half-hour before the Mower County Board of Commissioners meeting commenced, Mayor Bonnie Rietz predicted a 3-2 vote in favor of the arena.

Wednesday, April 26, 2000

A half-hour before the Mower County Board of Commissioners meeting commenced, Mayor Bonnie Rietz predicted a 3-2 vote in favor of the arena. Not only is the Austin mayor an astute reader of the county political minds, she is also a very happy city official.

"I was very very pleased and so thankful it went through," Rietz said about the county board’s vote to proceed – with certain stipulations – on the proposed multipurpose arena at the Mower County Fairgrounds. "I want to thank the county board for being progressive and for making such a wonderful thing happen."

Dick Lang seconded her opinion.

"I’m really pleased," the Third Ward Council member said. "This works so many ways: we can move along with working with the county on this project; we can get Riverside Arena ready to be the new Shaw gym and get the Park and Rec into one building; the Paramount can have their handicapped bathrooms and office space [once the Park and Rec offices are moved to Riverside] and we get two sheets of ice and an upgraded fairgrounds."

The only worry for city officials might be the possibility of cost overruns at the $5.5 million building, but right now they aren’t too worried.

"I think it behooves the architects and the engineers to design a tight building," City Administrator Pat McGarvey said. "It isn’t automatic that there are expensive change orders … If they do a thorough job, I don’t see why there would be change orders that amount to tens of thousands of dollars."

As for the $250,000 Mighty Ducks grant that is currently in the hands of an indecisive Minnesota Legislature, McGarvey said if the grant doesn’t come through there are two options: either to reduce the costs by taking something out or to share the extra $250,000 between the city and the county.

"Or a combination of both," McGarvey said. "We should know pretty soon what the state’s going to do."

"I’m glad they made up thier minds to move forward," Council member at-large Dick Chaffee said this morning. "It’s a real plus for the county and the city of Austin."