The group behind CalgaryNEXT spoke to Calgary city council Monday to try to prove the costs in the proposal are accurate and the project itself is feasible.

Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation still says the total cost of CalgaryNEXT would be $1.3 billion not $1.8 billion as the city suggests.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said even if the Calgary Flames are right; at $1.3 billion the project would be more expensive than the West LRT and would be the most expensive public works project in Calgary’s history.

“We could go back and forth and fight about the discrepancy but the point is even their best case scenario is still lot of money that we don’t have and that’s something we’ll have to address,” says Nenshi.

Flames President Ken King says there are ways to cut some of those costs such as not building the underpass and pedestrian bridge and he says the Fames ownership could consider fronting more money.

“Sure anything could be considered,” says King. “Our model doesn’t contemplate that but we need to agree that we’re trying to make a deal before we determine the terms of that deal.”

The proposed deal from the Flames group hasn’t changed ; the ownership and the city would kick in $200 million each, another $240 million would be raised through a community revitalization levy and another $250 million would be borrowed through a ticket surcharge.

The public still has a mixed perception to the project.

“Any business can provide public benefit so where’s the line of what a business’ responsibility is and what the public’s contribution in terms of tax paying dollars,” says Dan Johanson. “It’s a fine line to decide what should be private and what should be public.”

“Sinking a bunch of public money into a stadium that’s not going to give any money back to the community right it’s going into the pockets of the teams that are playing in the space. That’s not cool,” says Paige Lansky.

Earlier this month, the city proposed a Plan B centered around a new arena on the Stampede grounds, a fieldhouse near the University of Calgary and renovations to McMahon Stadium.

When asked for an update on those ideas Nenshi said the city had yet to receive the information it needed from the Flames group.

However in a 35 page report the Flames group presented to city council Monday, it stated Plan B lacks any sufficient detail to judge its merits.

(With files from Rahim Ladhani)