The DFFH will be no more. That was the decision of Moose Jaw City Council Monday night as they worked on how to revive Mosaic Place and Yara Centre after back to back bouts of controversy.

Two boards have been disbanded since the facility opened, leaving a thick cloud of bad vibes and a mountain of concerns in the community. After a successful launch, Mosaic Place has been a thorn in the side of council following financial irregularities with the first board and then the human resources issues that resulted in a third-party investigation, three councillors being reprimanded for their actions and then the board being dissolved.

City manager Jim Puffalt has been running things since the summer and has also been compiling a report on what he thinks should be done. Puffalt comes with a wealth of background knowledge when it comes to multipurpose facilities having helped to launched Spectra Place in Estevan, drawing concerts and hosting sports events.

Puffalt has reviewed what went right and what went wrong with the Downtown Facility and Fieldhouse, compiling a lengthy document on the history of Mosaic Place and Yara Centre here in Moose Jaw. One of his main concerns has been the fact that a volunteer board has been trusted with tens of millions of dollars worth of city facilities and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer dollars with the budget. While they started out strong under the guidance of General Manager Scott Clark, budgeting got out of control, checks and balances were not in place to ensure the success was valid and it eventually caused the first board to be let go.

Things did not get any better for the second board as they eventually became a management board rather than a governance board. Without a general manager on site, the board took over the day to day operations of the facility but didn't have the proper skill set or support to keep that up for the long run. Toss in the controversy surrounding the human resources complaints that resulted in the investigation and disbanding of the board, and it was a recipe for disaster.

"History does tend to repeat itself and we've learned those things," said Puffalt. "We have two examples where it hasn't worked in Moose Jaw, there are examples in Saskatchewan where it hasn't worked and there's examples across North America. We cannot go back and set ourselves up for that type of thing to occur again and what happens at three? That's my biggest fear. What happens with the third time?"

Suggesting a new model was needed to remove the volunteer aspect from the operation of the facility, Puffalt recommended that Yara Centre be folded into the normal operations of the Parks and Recreation Department. His report suggested that the fieldhouse was already operating in a similar way to the Kinsmen Sportsplex and should be an easy transition. Puffalt said great work has been done to secure the future of that facility with a contract being worked on right now that will see a major user group become a tenant, using most of the prime time slots and in turn, generating possible revenue.

Mosaic Place, however, needs a professional hand to guide it along and that's why Puffalt suggested the hiring of a third-party management company that can bring entertainment, human resources, financial and leadership expertise to the table, all while reporting to city council.

Former board member Scott McMann was not a fan of the recommendations from Puffalt suggesting that a third party board is going to cost the city a lot of money and was very concerned about losing control to the outside company.

"Third-party groups do bring expertise in financial systems, HR policies and certainly reach within the entertainment industry, I'll give you that but make no mistake, you pay dearly for that expertise. In addition to the cost, my biggest concern is that there is no longer a board of directors in place."

While any model of management has areas of concern or the possibility of failure, there are ways to mitigate that risk, according to Puffalt.

"If we're going to do a request for proposals, the specifications have to be crystal clear of what's expected from each party, where the controls are and where the reporting is because otherwise, it will get out of control," said Puffalt.

"It's like any other tender we do for streets, if the specifications are weak then you will pay for it in the end... but that will be the most important thing that we do."

Puffalt acknowledged that while there is no official board, city council would serve as a governing body and receive reports along with updates from the third party company, no different than any other program of the city. He again stressed his concerns with a volunteer board and the track record that they've had with the facility since the city has already had to step in twice. Rather than have it happened a third time, he suggested that since the city owns the facility, then city council should be the one overseeing the governance.

Former board chair Councillor Brian Swanson also raised concerns about hiring someone to run the facility on behalf of the city also suggesting that a company could easily come in and take over, pushing around the Warriors, food vendors and other groups who use Mosaic Place, all in the name of making money for themselves.

"The idea that a third party is somehow going to turn a miracle for Moose Jaw, I think is a bit naive because their focus is making money and the money they make doesn't stay in Moose Jaw. It goes back to Philadelphia and New Jersey."

But isn't success the entire idea? Councillor Chris Warren made that argument in response to Swanson's comments saying the idea should be to have someone run the facility with success in mind.

"Of course they want to make money," said Warren. "That's what any contractor or entrepreneur is in business for, is to make money but if that third-party contractor is successful, that means that we're successful."

Former board member Crystal Froese supported the overall plan to bring Mosaic Place out of the weeds and pointed to a community that she used to live. Froese explained that she has done research about third-party boards and learned that Penticton, BC is ready to pay off their facility thanks, in part, to a third party management company who just signed a ten-year extension to their contract.

"It's a very profitable event centre with a hockey team a tier down from our Warriors," explained Froese. "It's thriving and as a matter of fact, they are ready to pay their building off this year and they've been running since 2008."

In the end, the majority of council supported the move to a third party company and will start the process of winding down the DFFH while preparing a request for proposals for a management company. At the same time, Yara Centre will slide into the Parks and Recreation Department with minimal alterations to the way it runs.

Also approved with the report from Puffalt was a mandate to build better relationships with the entertainment community to entice more concerts, events and tournaments to Moose Jaw. As Puffalt put it, he wants to make sure everyone knows that Moose Jaw is ready and willing to host events.

He did have a warning though, not every event or tournament will make money and that's just part of the game that the city has decided to play. With that in mind, he's recommending that the success or failure of the facility be determined on an overall yearly performance rather than on just one of two shows.