City manager gets green light to sign downtown arena contracts

The city will soon be looking to buy the land where the Downtown Arena will sit. Tuesday, council authorized the city manager to enter into contracts on behalf of the city in order to expedite the process.

“We’re going to need appraisers, we’re going to need surveyors, we’re going to need right-of-way acquisition people, we’re going to need title work done,” said City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth. “There’s a lot of things we need to start getting ready for the real estate acquisition.”

City Manager Tommy Gonzalez will now have the authority to sign the contracts with the guidance of the city attorney. He will no longer have to go before council every week to ask for permission to sign contracts on a piecemeal basis.

Borunda Firth said Gonzalez will have to make sure the contracts he signs do not go over the project’s budget.

Gonzalez is currently restricted by a $50,000 cap. He needs council’s approval if he will sign a contract that goes over that amount.

Tuesday, council voted to remove that cap as well.

“(The city) knows some of those things (for the downtown arena) may most likely cost more than $50,000, so we want to be able to move expeditiously,” said Borunda Firth. “Council sets a budget (for the project) and as long as (he stays) within the budget, (he) can keep moving.”