WESTBROOK – Westbrook developer Jason Snyder said he is taking a “wait and see” approach after the Cumberland County commissioners opted against funding a study of converting the civic center in Portland into a convention center.

The budget advisory committee for the county had recommended the commissioners reserve in the capital budget up to $100,000 to study the impact of constructing a new arena and using the 33-year-old civic center to host conventions.

However, on Dec. 20, the commissioners voted down the recommendation by a vote of 2-1. Commissioners James Cloutier and Richard Feeney were opposed, while commissioner Malory Shaughnessy was in favor of looking at the issue more closely.

Cloutier said this week it would have been unusual to appropriate capital funds for that purpose.

“That’s not how the capital budget is managed,” he said. “In my view, capital funds are to be used for investments.”

During the meeting, Shaughnessy proposed alternatively setting some funds aside in the operating budget, but the other commissioners voted against that as well.

Instead, the capital budget includes a $200,000 placeholder to fund design work for civic center renovations. The civic center board of trustees has advised spending $28 million to upgrade the aging facility.

Shaughnessy said this week the votes of her fellow commissioners were disappointing since the issue has been a vocal one among her constituents. There is “overwhelming” support in the county for a regional study to see how an arena outside the Portland peninsula might impact the other communities, she said.

While the civic center trustees are “representative of Portland business interests,” she said the commissioners must look at the entire region.

“There’s a lot of reasons to say it’s worth the effort to do the study,” she said.

Shaughnessy said it is important for the commissioners to have the final say on such matters, but added that they also should listen to those they represent and she felt like “the other commissioners didn’t want to hear it.”

Snyder, who has proposed using land he owns in Portland or Westbrook for a publicly funded new arena, said this week the vote represented “a complete rejection of the fiduciary duties” of the commissioners. He wondered whether there was a conflict of interest in the vote, since Feeney was on the task force that examined civic center renovations and was formerly a civic center trustee.

“There’s some question as to whether he could be a fair vote,” he said.

While Snyder’s opponents have portrayed him as a self-interested developer, he said he made the proposal for altruistic reasons, as his plan could bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Cumberland County.

“I don’t take it as a personal loss. I take it as a loss for the community,” he said, adding he would feel the same about the idea regardless of whether his land was chosen for a new arena.

Snyder has espoused the value of a new arena and civic center conversion at numerous public forums on the issue. His argument is that a convention center in Portland would bring in out-of-state dollars and benefit Maine’s tourism industry statewide. More locally, he argues, an arena located off the peninsula would be more accessible and have a more direct benefit on Cumberland County beyond Portland.

In contrast, the trustees’ plan to renovate the civic center is a short-term solution that spends state dollars on a facility many view as inadequate, he said.

It is Snyder’s belief that the trustees, Cloutier and Feeney are determined to go through with civic center renovations and their refusal of an alternative study suggests they “are afraid of what the results will yield.”

Cloutier said that Portland has a tradition of reusing and adapting old facilities for reinvestment, and the civic center plan follows that line. A “multimillion-dollar discard” of the arena “never made a lot of sense,” he said.

“This is a way to realize the best advantage on the assets we have,” he said.

Snyder and others have expressed doubt that a $28 million bond for civic center renovations would receive voter approval. Snyder said he has also heard rumblings there are petitions looming within the county to express disapproval over the commissioners’ decision.

“Many feel this is not over and done with,” he said. “I’m taking a wait and see approach. A lot can transpire during that time frame (before the vote in November).”