Austin's new ice arena now has a name.

The Austin City Council unanimously carried a motion to call it Packer Arena at Monday night's City Council meeting.

The main suggestions for names were Riverbank Arena, Riverside North, Eastside Arena, Packer Arena and Mill Pond Arena, though anyone could make other suggestions at the meeting.

Jon Erichson, city engineer, said most people seemed "to favor 'Packer Arena' because of the high school."

Council member Jeanne Poppe agreed. "'Packer Arena' has a nice ring to it and it's part of the town's heritage … it reminds us of where the land came from," she said.

Some council members did favor other names. Council member Dick Lang joked he'd like to see it called "Lang Arena," but that was promptly rejected by council. He then said he preferred the name "Eastside Arena" because "the east side of Austin is one of the oldest parts of the town" and has its own sense of tradition.

Council member Mickey Jorgenson said she liked the idea of naming it "Mill Pond Arena" because it would set the location of the arena in the same way "Riverside Arena" explains where the city's first arena is.

In the end, though, a motion was made for "Packer Arena" and it was passed without opposition.

In other council news:

n A resolution approving a lease agreement with VoiceStream Wireless for the installation of a tower on city-owned land across from the Wastewater Treatment Plant was passed. Chris Traiser, a VoiceStream Wireless representative, was at the meeting to explain the tower could be co-leased to other wireless companies and VoiceStream would be more than willing to do that. It will cost well over $200,000 to install the tower, Traiser said, and VoiceStream will want to get as much of that money back as soon as possible, so the tower will be available "to everyone, including mom and pop operations."

n A resolution adopting the Austin Fire Department's Operations Plan for 2002-04 was passed.

n Council Member-At-Large Dick Chaffee announced his intention to run for the position again. Jorgenson announced she would be running as a representative of the First Ward again. Council member Gloria Nordin also announced she would run for a seat as a representative of the Third Ward again.

n Mary Drayer, who operates Cats Off Broadway, a cat rescue and adoption service appeared before the Ordinance Committee meeting prior to the City Council meeting to ask for assistance in establishing a shelter within the city limits. Drayer was cited by police last week for housing too many cats at one residence and though she has since found foster homes for all but one of the cats, she would like to have a permanent shelter in the city.

The committee advised her to work with Craig Hoium, the director of community development, to find out where zoning would permit a shelter. According to council member Wayne Goodnature, "it's probably impossible to get something like that established where the zoning does not allow it."

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com