Sudbury city council reaffirms support for Kingsway Entertainment District project

A decision made by Sudbury city council in June 2017 was reinforced at a meeting on Tuesday night.

There was a motion on the agenda from councillor Gerry Montpellier involving the Kingsway Entertainment District, specifically, the casino proposed for the site.

However, as chair, mayor Brian Bigger declared the motion to be a reconsideration of council's decision on the Kingsway project, meaning councillors had to vote on the project again.

City clerk Eric Labelle had to manage the confusion.

"If you vote no, then you are not agreeing to reconsider the decision from June 27, 2017," he said.

"And then the motion that's been put forward by councillor Montpellier, will not be dealt with tonight. It just won't be dealt with."

The vote was 11 to one not to reconsider the project, as Montpellier declared a conflict of interest just like he did 14 months ago, when the vote was 10 to two for the Kingsway project.

Developer Dario Zulich calls the vote an affirmation the entertainment district is worthwhile.

"The council has just revoted again to say 'Do we want to reconsider June 27?' They said no, we're happy with it and in fact, like I said even more so'," he said.

"So I'm looking forward to keep pushing forward."

The city, Zulich, Gateway Casinos and Hilton hotels are now all negotiating the $8.5 million cost sharing partnership.