City to release arena/pool project info in April

"We are working hard with the architects in the preliminary phase of the design, and all of council will now be working with the architects together," she said during the March city council meeting. "It is our hope and expectation that on April 6, at the next council meeting, there will be a public deposition of the proposed preliminary design. On April 7, 8 and 9, we will be sending out an information package with background information, with cost analyses, with the design information as well."

According to Marks, the City will also be launching a web site on April 7 to gather feedback from residents, and the dates of public information sessions to be held on April 18 and 21 will be publicized in local media more than a week beforehand. "They're both the same kind of sessions, but we're having one on a weeknight and one on a weekend to accommodate as many people as possible," she said. "At those sessions we will also have the architects, technical people and the drawings, and all of the things that will enable people to ask questions and discuss what they see. We hope that will provide a lot of information."

From April 22 to 29, the polling firm Ipsos Descarie will conduct a survey in the Westmount community. The poll results and web page feedback should be available to the City by May 7. "I think that's going to give us a great deal of information with which to make some very crucial decisions," said Marks.