Fergus Falls residents feel slighted by hockey arena decision

Fergus Falls, Minn. (WDAY TV) - The City Council in Fergus Falls is under fire. Some taxpayers say the four million dollars it approved to fund a new hockey arena, is too much. They also say the council went about business in an underhanded way.

“It feels kind of like Muhammad Ali would say, they ‘rope a doped us.’”

They say they feel like their rights were taken away, with the arena money being decided on with a vote by the council rather than by the people.

“Let the people vote on it, have a referendum, not let 6 out of 7 council members ramrod something like this through.”

This is where the arena would go, at the Fergus Falls High School. It's supposed to be two regulation size sheets of ice, with some extra space. Group members say as taxpayers, they're the ones who will foot the four million dollar bill for the arena, and they should have some say.

“It's the difference between need and want. I want a 42 inch plasma TV, I need to pay my bills.”

“Especially with the economy the way it is. You know, there are so many people who are struggling to make ends meet, and we need to have a voice in the issues.”

People who oppose the arena say they're not against hockey, what they're upset about is the way the council handled the issue. They say they feel they've been duped. They say no vote was scheduled on Monday’s council agenda, it was supposed to be a work session.

“There is a lot of mistrust right now in the community for our council, a lack of confidence right now because of this.”

One man is even putting together a petition to get his councilman out of office. He needs signatures from 20 per cent of his ward to get the job done.

“We don't have to wait until the next election; we have a due process that can take away their position of power.”

At the very least, this group just wanted a chance to voice their opinion, even though the decision is already made.

The group says it also has concerns that Fergus Falls isn't equipped with hotel space to host large tournaments at the arena which is one of the economic development goals of the facility.

Members from the Fergus Falls City Council say there have been several chances over the last year for the public to weigh in on the arena.

Tim Jensen from the second ward says the council wasn't trying to be sneaky and slip something past the public. Jensen says like any project, there are deadlines that need to be met, and that's the reason for Monday’s vote.

“And it's not that it was purposely done and left off the agenda, it was something that we needed to discuss and make a determination on it to move forward.”

Jensen says once the arena is finished it will bring in a lot of money to the community.