Town council confirmed their commitment to the Pan Am Game’s velodrome Monday as councillors pointed a long list of benefits that can come from the indoor cycling track.

Council voted 9 -2 in support of becoming the facility’s host municipality. However, minor adjustments to the agreements with Infrastructure Ontario and the Pan Am Toronto Organizing Committee and site plan approvals will have to be hammered out before the council signs a binding agreement.

Overwhelming, councillors voiced their support for the project and confidence that the $40 million facility will come in on time and on budget.

“People have said other municipalities have looked at it and said no, what do we know that they don’t know. The difference is Milton delivers,” said Councillor Mike Cluett. “That’s a message we have to send to every other municipality. When we set our minds to something, we don’t need 18 months, we can do it in two months.”

An in depth business plan and staff report, along with consultations with the GTA cycling community and online public survey were undertaken during a whirlwind couple of months.

If all memorandums of understanding are passed by council, construction is scheduled to begin in June.

Without a firm commitment from the Province to fund a Laurier university campus at the Milton Education Village, Town staff is budgeting in case Laurier’s $2.5 million pledge to the velodrome doesn’t come through.

The Town’s total capital contribution to the project is pegged between $3.45 million to $6.25 million. The annual operating budget is estimated between $220,000 to $330,000, some of which will be offset through the Game’s Legacy Fund.

How much money the Town will receive from the fund is still unclear, but part of the staff recommendation included having a Town representative on the Legacy Fund Corporation.

Councillor Rick Malboeuf and Greg Nelson were the only two to vote against further pursuing the Pan Am velodrome.

source: http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/1289048–milton-council-supports-velodrome