Vancouver’s deputy city manager, Jody Andrews, has refused to confirm or deny whether Vancouver city council voted at an in-camera meeting to provide up to $100 million in financing to the developer of the Olympic Village.

At a news conference this afternoon on the seawall near Science World, Andrews said he will not disclose anything that occurred at in-camera meetings.  

“If something like that has happened, I will not be able to comment on that,” Andrews said.

He insisted that the “financial and schedule risks” to the City remain unchanged.

This morning, the Globe and Mail reported that council voted in-camera on October 24 to lend up to $100 million to complete the village. The Globe and Mail didn’t identify its source.

"It's not in the taxpayers' best interests to talk about the day-to-day dealings," Andrews said. "You can appreciate that we are having business discussions and business negotiations on a day-to-day basis on this project, and it is harmful to the taxpayers to reveal those discussions while they're still underway."

Andrews disclosed at the news conference that the City has hired SNC-Lavalin to provide “project oversight” on the first phase (the Olympic Village) of the Southeast False Creek development. This is on a seven-hectare parcel.

He said this arrangement with SNC-Lavalin cost less than $30,000, which means it could be approved by his office without a council vote.

“That contract began last Friday,” Andrews said. “We are 12 months from the finish line on this project. We are very close to completion.”

The Olympic Village will include 15 to 20 permanent buildings, according to the City’s Web site. There will be 1,100 housing units—250 “affordable” and 110 “modest income”—in the billion-dollar development.

Andrews described a seven percent “overage” as a “reasonable estimate”, which means the project could be about $70 million over budget.

The City owns 20 of the 32 hectares on Southeast False Creek. It has entered into a lease, development, and sale agreement with Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties Ltd. to develop City-owned properties.

Millennium provided the City with a $29-million deposit as security, according to the City’s financial statements. Millennium’s purchase price was approximately $200 million.

The City is contractually obliged to complete the Olympic Village in time for the 2010 Games even if Millennium runs into financial trouble and can't finish the project.

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (Vanoc) is not obliged to cover any cost overruns on the Olympic Village. It will house about 2,800 athletes and officials during the 2010 Games, and will revert to permanent housing afterward.

Two days before the 2002 civic election, the City and the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation signed a secret agreement, which capped Vanoc’s contribution  to the  village at $30 million.

The City also agreed not to charge any rent to Vanoc for the use of the village or the property from January 31, 2010 to February 24, 2010. Under the agreement, Vanoc won’t be required to pay any property or municipal taxes.

“If you look at the financial statement of the City where we do talk about the City’s guarantees on the project and the financial exposures, those are all publicly disclosed, and those remain unchanged,” Andrews said.

The City's most recent annual financial statement reported that it had already granted a $190-million loan guarantee.

The Georgia Straight asked Andrews why the City hasn’t gone back to Vanoc and asked for an additional contribution to cover the rising cost of the Olympic Village.

The City persuaded Vanoc to increase its contribution to another Olympic legacy project, the Hillcrest curling venue, from $28 million to $38 million even though Vanoc's contribution was capped in a separate 2002 agreement.

“That’s a very good question,” Andrews replied. “The way to look at the Olympic Village project is this is a development—a market development—that has a high market-development component, and that there is a revenue element there. A lot of this product is not City of Vancouver product. This is owned by our development partner, and they’re proceeding with it.”

He added that this was a “different situation” from the Hillcrest curling venue, which will become a City facility after the 2010 Games.

The City’s 2007 financial statements report that it has provided a “Completion Guarantee” obligating it to finish the “Market Project” in time for the 2010 Games if Millennium is unable to do this.

“In the case of a default, it is expected that the City will assume the completion of the Market Project and become responsible for repaying the Loan,” the financial statements report. “The City’s exposure in these circumstances is secured by guarantees and other rights provided to the City by Millennium including corporate and personal guarantees and the transfer of all interests in the Market Project.”

See also, Will there be a witch hunt to find out who leaked Olympic Village loan info?