Council to have the final word on the Faubourg today

Nieto and Gill have been meeting with university representatives over the summer to hash out what could become the Faubourg agreement as of Tuesday. Photos by Navneet Pall.

With the deadline to give their answer to the university on the student centre question looming, the Concordia Student Union executive is set to present a series of recommendations on the project to council tonight.
“If council rejects the Faubourg Ste-Catherine proposal for a student centre, the executive will follow council’s decision and the Faubourg Ste-Catherine will not be the site of the student centre,” VP clubs and student space Gonzalo Nieto affirmed.
Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota had previously said the university is prepared to move forward to purchase the building for use as a student centre as soon as there is a signed agreement. The university’s option to buy the building expires in April 2012. The administration had let the executives know they had until the end of September to make a decision on whether to accept the Faubourg Ste-Catherine as a student centre.
Concordia Student Union president Keyana Kashfi signed an agreement with Concordia on May 29, 2009, whereby the university “has the right to propose student centre sites to the CSU and the CSU will evaluate those proposals,” Nieto explained.
“Should council reject the offer for the Faubourg Ste-Catherine, […] the student centre agreement would still stand. It would not be nullified by that decision and the university would retain the right to make any future proposals as to the site for a specific student centre,” said Nieto.
The recommendations will be presented in the form of one omnibus motion with five resolutions. “The main recommendation is going to be about the approval or rejection of the project,” he said. Nieto and CSU president Lex Gill will also propose four secondary resolutions for issues such as the way the union will consult students about student space this year, and the way in which the university works with the student union.
Nieto will recommend that a union representative be kept in the loop while the university is drafting things like financial reports to expedite the process when they are presented with reports for review.
Gill and Nieto’s report will be preceded by a 15-minute presentation on the subject of the student centre made by two facilities management representatives, as well as Dean of Students Andrew Woodall and, potentially, Concordia VP services Roger Côté. The presentation will be followed by a 15 to 20 minute question period.
Gill and Nieto will then delve into the student centre portfolio, the sequence of events leading up to the meeting and overview of the entire plan, before presenting their recommendations.
The union and the university have had meetings approximately every two weeks throughout the summer for talks with regards to the proposal.

The special council meeting is happening Tuesday, Sept. 27 in H-760 at 6 p.m.

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