Jumbotron decision in arbitration, decision to be made in days

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

“Coming soon” has now been upgraded to “a few days” as residents await the final outcome that could see a new jumbotron hanging above the ice at the General Motors Centre.

In a closed meeting of council on Monday afternoon prior to the regular city council meeting, councillors passed a recommendation from city solicitor David Potts concerning ongoing arbitration between the city and Oshawa Generals.

The details of the recommendation are confidential, but Mayor John Henry says the recommendation was passed and will now head to the lawyers representing the hockey club. Henry adds that a decision is imminent.

“We’re in our due diligence stage so we can’t comment because it’s still between the lawyers, but it’s close,” he says.

Since last summer, the city and the Gens have been going back and forth to find a solution to replace the aging scoreclock that has hung in the GM Centre since it opened its doors in 2006. When it was installed, the rear-projection clock was already eight years old and is now the oldest scoreclock in the OHL.

At the start of February, Generals owner Rocco Tullio appeared before council, and offered the choice to have his organization pay for an entire new scoring and video system in exchange for  concessions on the shared marketing agreement between the two organizations.

“It’s a very complicated issue and we’re looking forward to a resolution, but I can only tell you it has to travel back and forth and when we get closer everybody will know,” Henry says.

It’s unclear whether that deal is still being debated or if negotations have changed the final outcome. The price tag for a new system has been put in the neighborhood of $800,000 to $900,000.