City Council members expressed doubt Monday about whether the city will be ready to ask voters to approve a new arena in the spring city election.

After an informal arena briefing, Councilman Dan Marvin questioned whether the city would have firm cost estimates for building the arena, moving railroad tracks and building roads, for instance. The council will decide early in 2009 whether to put the issue on the May ballot.

“You will have all of this in the next eight weeks?” Marvin asked the city’s arena coordinator, Kent Morgan. “You’re confident that you can provide that amount of detail?”

Yes, Morgan said.

Councilman Jon Camp questioned who is handling the different pieces of the larger arena complex and pressed Morgan to release financial data to the council soon.

Morgan said he’d have to get permission from the mayor and a public-private arena steering committee.

That didn’t sit well with Camp, who asked whether the council wasn’t part of the “upper level.”

Councilman Ken Svoboda said the city has “a lot to overcome in a couple of months” — noting arena supporters need to combat myths about the Qwest Center Omaha’s performance and fallout from the Journal Star’s recent series about the Antelope Valley Project, whose projected cost ballooned from $175 million to $264 million.

Svoboda suggested city officials consider postponing an arena election until summer or fall, given the enormity of the task ahead.

Morgan said he’s been charged with shooting for the May election.

Later, Camp also pressed Mayor Chris Beutler for financial figures. Beutler said while the council is at the “top of the list of people who need to be persuaded” to support a new arena, he wants the data to be accurate and complete.

“There’s just not much that has been decided,” he said. “In fact, nothing has been actually decided.”

Which probably didn’t do much to assuage the council’s concerns.

Two arena designs in the works

Apparently, the city has two arena designs in the works.

Aside from the designs the architects at DLR Group of Omaha are working on, International Stadia Group is working on its own arena design — on its own dime.

The sports marketing giant is studying whether it can privately finance the design and construction of a new arena for Lincoln. An answer is expected by the end of the month.

DLR won a $1.2 million contract — largely paid for by the private 2015 Vision business group — to work on Lincoln’s initial arena design. DLR is subcontracting with BVH Architects and The Clark Enersen Partners.

But Morgan said if voters approve an arena, it will be up to the mayor to decide whether to continue the contract with DLR.

The complicating factor is ISG’s interest in financing the arena. ISG normally partners with HKS Architects, which designed new stadiums for the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.

Morgan said if ISG decides to finance the arena, “We’ve had discussions about involving DLR. They’ve indicated a willingness to look at ways they could make DLR part of their team.“

DLR designed Omaha’s Qwest Center, Haymarket Park and the Memorial Stadium addition and is now designing the Breslow ice center, which is planned near the proposed arena.

Make that two council candidates

Physical therapist Jayne Snyder announced plans to run for the City Council on Tuesday.

But what about the three people occupying the at-large seats that will be up for grabs in the spring?

Councilman Ken Svoboda says he’ll run again (he’s already begun sending letters to donors) but Councilman Dan Marvin isn’t saying, and Councilwoman Robin Eschliman said she hasn’t made a decision yet.

Should dumpster diving be criminalized?

Councilman Doug Emery is floating the prospect of a city ordinance banning dumpster diving.

He has put the idea out there at the request of the Lincoln Policy Network — an offshoot of NeighborWorks. Councilman Camp cautioned that some dumpster divers fish aluminum cans out of dumpsters for recycling.

He said it

“That’s good to know.”

— Councilman John Spatz, after learning dumpster diving is legal in Lincoln.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com