City councillors have answered critics of the civic centre decision making process being undertaken for the future of the city council buildings.

Officials this week adopted the strategic case and are now moving on to the economic case.

Options considered include fixing up the mouldy leaky buildings.

It is not a complicated process says councillor John Robson. It's a tried and tested incremental evidence based process for arriving at rational decisions.

Steve Morris justifies the council decision making process by pointing to city council projects where the Better Business Case was not followed.

'The Mount Hot Pools and wellness centre project, $1.3million spent on that and it subsequently went down the drain out into Pilot Bay,” says Steve. 'Also the thing about the water front museum, $1.17m on that process, so for those who suggest ‘just get on with it' I would say ‘no'.

'Do it rationally, in an evidence based way because this is an investment in this city for 100 years.”

This week's decision puts the council at the top of the metaphorical decision making funnel, says Steve.

'As the squeeze goes on and budgets become clearer, that's when tough decision will have to be made about what is in the civic space.”

As of this week the city council has spent $81,000 of the $2 million set aside for the process, but there are accounts outstanding and the council has now engaged an economist and architects Warren and Mahoney.

The Sydney based firm has a long list of New Zealand buildings in the portfolio including Wellington's Cake Tin, the NZ National Library Novatel Auckland, the NZ Supreme Court…

John Robson asked if the architects have been given a financial framework to work with.

'A self-described ginger group is currently talking publicly with regard to $171m. Is that the scale Warren Mahoney have been briefed on,” asks John.

Strategic planner Adele Hadfield says it's common practice to provide a range of options for Tauranga City Council once it is defined as feasible. They ranges from the status quo option of refitting and making healthy the existing buildings, though to the most ambitious of options.

The conversation over the next few months has to focus on scaling each of those options.

Warren/Mahoney isn't working to a brief saying Council wants $250 million worth of facilities, says Michelle. It's working to a brief saying, provide us options within the proposed scope, and considering the current state in terms of buildings, staff accommodation and the issues and problems having been identified.

'We haven't said in any way that it's a $250, $150 $50 million project,” says Michelle.

There are multiple streams to the project and the funding options, how it might be paid for is a different project stream, she says.

There may in fact be a difference between the cost of the project and the cost to council of the project.

Council general manger strategy Christine Jones says council staff are at the moment working on how many square metres is required for city council staff, which includes looking at growth projections over time, and if they take a different model do they get efficiencies of space?

'Then it's what does that look like in the present buildings. What does that look like in new buildings and that becomes part of the options,” says Christine.

The various options are also graded from bare minimum through to a range of more ambitious. The selection for councillors is across a range of choices – pick and mix.

'Some you may choose to do minimus or some more ambitious. It's a bit like a menu type option really,” says Christine.

'What would a different type museum look like? Could you do something relatively small scale? Could we do it medium scale? How could you get efficiencies by co-locating some of these things together, and do co-sharing of space.

'All those types of things are in the mix but we are at a very early stage and we haven't got to the point of defining those and then being able to cost them. We are conscious of the need to bring a range of options.”