Town council Monday approved a feasibility study into whether a hotel is appropriate on town owned land in East Fonthill.
It awarded contract “not to exceed $20,352” to PKF Hospitality and Tourism Business Advisors.
Town council plans to recover the costs by adding the fee to the price of the land at Regional Road 20 and Rice Road when it is sold.
Coun. Gary Accursi moved an amendment to attach the cost to the land.
He said councillors have received calls and emails saying hotel chains should be able to pay for their own marketing studies.
Coun. John Durley said it would come down to negotiations when the land is sold.
Coun. Marvin Junkin voted against the study saying the town should be able to determine the need through its economic advisory committee rather than pay an outside consultant.
Chief Admistrative Officer Darren Ottaway, in answer to a question from Mayor Dave Augustyn, said the contract cost could not be applied to development cost charges.
In this case, he said the town was acting as a developer in doing a study as a property owner.
In a report, he said the town would require a private developer to undertake a commercial needs study to demonstrate that “the proposed commercial use was viable and sustainable” before issuing approvals.
In this case he said “the town is the developer and the same standard should apply, the town should be required to demonstrate that a hotel can be supported economically prior to considering requesting a call for proposals for a hotel development.”
The winning bid for the study was selected from among three.
