No word from Katz on council's Oct. 17th meeting

Edmonton city council has scheduled an arena update for Oct. 17th — the mayor's "drop dead" date for The Katz Group to explain their concerns with the existing deal — but there's still no word on whether anyone will attend.

City council rejected a request for more money last month after The Katz Group claimed that "an iconic arena" could not be built for $450 million, the maximum cost set in last year's agreement.

That prompted Mayor Stephen Mandel to set an Oct. 17th deadline for Oilers' owner Daryl Katz or his representatives to come before council.

"You need to know what the other side wants," Mandel said this week. "At least then you can define what the challenges are. Right now we don't know."

The invitation to Katz has been issued but the city has yet to get a response.

A Katz Group spokesman confirmed Thursday that no decision has been made about whether Katz or someone from his organization will attend.