After a year and a half of talking about the Confluence Project, the city of Eau Claire may finally put its money where its mouth is. On Tuesday (Oct. 22), the Eau Claire City Council is schedule to vote on whether to pledge $5 million toward the public-private arts center and mixed-used building proposed for downtown Eau Claire. The pledge would be the first step toward actually providing public funding for the $80 million project, a joint effort by UW-Eau Claire, the Eau Claire Regional Arts Council, and Commonweal Development.

“We felt it was time to take a leadership position and say we’d like to put this proposal out there after 18, 19 months of discussion and then take a vote on it, and we felt it would spur the state to respond,” City Council President Kerry Kincaid said Friday. The project’s backers are hoping for $25.9 million from the state, money they say is needed to replace aging performing arts venues at UWEC.

The pledge will be the subject of a public discussion at the council’s Monday (Oct. 21) meeting, which starts at 7pm in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 203 S. Farwell St. It will be voted on at the council’s legislative session, which begins at 4pm Tuesday.

The $5 million pledge is contingent on a number of factors, Kincaid noted. According to the resolution, the city would pledge $5 million toward the capital project if at least $25 million in funding is offered by the state; if $20 million comes from donors and other public and private sources; if there’s a guarantee that the tax valuation of the private mixed-use building is $21.5 million; and if other guidelines are reached, including the establishment of a “sustainable operating revenue stream” for the project and the negotiation of agreements among the various public and private parties involved.

Kincaid is optimistic the resolution will be approved by the 11-member council. “Most of the council members I think are ready to make this decision, (but) it’s not the last decision,” she said.

The council won’t yet address the developers’ request that the city pay for $5.9 million worth of utility and site work on South Barstow Street.

On Monday and Tuesday the council will also discuss – and potentially act upon – a request from a newly formed group, the Citizens Referendum Committee, to authorize a public referendum on whether or not the city should support the Confluence Project. The City Council could act to put such a question before city voters in a binding referendum, or it could allow the private group to move ahead with its own referendum. The group would have to collect 3,619 signatures to put the matter on the April 1 ballot.