It's going to be out with the old and in with the new after Blue Mountains council rejected the idea of holding onto to the old town hall for at least another seven years.

In a six-part resolution at their regular meeting Monday night, councillors authorized staff to proceed to the preliminary design stage of a new 1,720-square-metre town hall facing the intersection of Mill and Bridge Streets.

They also endorsed, in principle, Concept B without the underground parking, as the master plan for the site.

But they balked at retaining the old town hall for a period of five years, as proposed in a staff report.

The issue split council right down the middle and was defeated in a tied recorded vote.

Staff had proposed keeping the old town hall for community-related purposes for a minimum of five years after the municipality had moved out. The plan was to find a community partner that would take over the building and use it for community purposes on a "self-sustaining basis."

That did not sit well with Councillor John McGee, who argued that even if they were able to find someone who wanted to use the building, there would extra costs involved in maintaining the building until such time as the new tenant was ready to move in.

"We end up with a building someone thinks they can use and then three years later they discover they can't," said McGee. "I'm not in favour of keeping an old building we'd really like to get rid of - letting it limp along and then have to pay more costs to get rid of it."

"I would like to see the building gone and the space used for what we - and the public - have said they want," said McGee. "I would strongly recommend that we not retain the old building."

Deputy Mayor Duncan McKinlay was not in favour of tearing down the old town hall just yet.

"I'm not in favour of tearing down a building that could have some use and save a community group some money," said McKinlay. "I don't think we're wealthy enough to discard a building that has some value."

McKinlay argued the staff proposal was to seek a community partner with a viable business plan to operate the building and would not cost the municipality any extra.

"If the business case can't be made then we can get rid of it later," he said.

McKinlay asked for a recorded vote. Mayor Ellen Anderson, Deputy Mayor McKinlay and Councillor Bob Gamble voted in favour of retaining the town hall, while councillors John McGee, Cam Kennedy and John McKean voted no. Councillor Michael Martin was absent. Tie votes are considered lost.

Council went on to approve utilizing a minimum Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification the new town hall, but deferred appointing members of council to the Design Committee until all members of council were present.

Members of council had many questions about the report, which was presented by David Finbow, Director of Building and Bylaw. Mostly they concerned parking, finance, and design issues.

Finbow said the recommendations in his report would move the project to the next step, allowing for more detailed building designs and site plans to be created.

"At every stage, council and the public will be given the opportunity to comment and ask questions," said Finbow.