from Meghan Potkins of the Calgary Herald,

A tentative deal has been reached between the city and the Calgary Flames for a new arena to replace the Saddledome.

City council members will discuss the proposed agreement at 3:45 p.m. Monday behind closed doors, Postmedia has learned.

Negotiations between the two camps were recently described as “productive” by the chair of council’s event centre committee. Council could potentially host a public debate on the proposed agreement before elected officials break for the summer in August, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Friday.

“I look forward to continuing conversations,” Nenshi said. “I know a lot of folks have been working very hard to see if there is something there that meets the criteria that we’ve talked about — the most important criteria, of course, being public money must have public benefit. And I really look forward to seeing where people are at.

“I’m hopeful there will be some stuff to talk about with the public on Monday.”

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