Orange City Council plans to unveil a concrete time frame on the proposed $25 million sports stadium in less than a month in an effort to kick-start an economy crippled by the coronavirus.
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However it is also preparing to borrow significant chunks of money if government funding is withdrawn.
Council handed down its budget on Tuesday night, revealing a $1.3 million deficit due to coronavirus amidst a $78.9 million spend on various infrastructure projects, including the stadium at the former Country Club golf course.
Councillor Geoff Whitton said CEO David Waddell was talking to "relevant authorities" who were hoping to fast-track approval to build on crown land.
Cr Whitton said once the approval to proceed was gained, the council would look to push the project forward.
"Normally it'd take a bit of time but they know in this time people are eager to get good news out there so hopefully we'll hear something in the next few weeks and we can put a timeline on things," he said.
"[The stadium] will be one of our first projects we go ahead with, once we get the green light, because one of the things I want to do as finance chairman and I know councillors want this as well is to bring forward some projects to bring stimulus into the community."
He said the $25 million grant from the NSW government was still locked into the budget, but the council was building contingency plans to potentially go without funding for some projects.
Cr Whitton said he didn't think losing funding would be likely, but wanted to be prepared should the government try to find ways to save money after the double hits of the bushfires over summer and current coronavirus downturn.
"There's no suggestion they will [remove grants], but we all know the state and federal governments putting into a lot of effort into funding and support and helping the medical community keep people alive so they may call that back and that's understandable," Cr Whitton said.
"We want to make sure people are aware we're committed to finishing these projects and that might mean borrowings to fulfill that - how does the community feel about that? Do they still want these to go ahead if they have to borrow?"
Cr Whitton said he wanted ratepayers to give feedback on the budget to determine if they would support council going into debt to build projects on its own should government funding dry up.
He said maintenance and roads projects such as roundabouts and footpaths would be unaffected, with borrowings potentially needed for bigger projects such as the stadium and conservatorium.
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