BREAKING: The Tempe City Council is likely to refer the Coyotes' arena & entertainment district proposal to referendum, leaving a vote in citizens' hands.

Now that may delay the process, but the good news for Yotes fans is the Tempe City Council is set to vote on the proposal on November 29th. A favorable vote by the citizens in Tempe will give the proposal more credibility to move forward.

Another factor to consider is the potential for litigation from any number of parties, including Sky Harbor International Airport, the City of Phoenix, the Goldwater Institute or local citizens groups.

'It depends on the upgrades you want to have and the premium packages that you're looking for, but we've always anticipated around 23 to 24 months,' Gutierrez said of the construction timeline.

The team agreed to using ASU's multi-purpose Mullett arena for at least three years with an option for an additional year. By presenting it to the voters, that will certainly delay getting the project underway.

Besides the actual construction of the arena, the team would need to remove an estimated 1.5 million tons of trash from the site. The team would then be tasked with remediating the site before construction begins at a cost of approximately $70 million.

Now, the good news for the proposal: While some citizens groups oppose the project, sources said that two separate polls have been conducted of Tempe citizens, and that more than 60 percent of them approve of the project as well; a telling window into what the referendum might produce.

With all this said, it now appears that Coyotes' fans will have some sort of clarity before the holidays.

Tempe Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Colin Diaz said. 'As of Tuesday of [last] week, we heard that recommendation and took a formal vote. As a board, we are in support of the Coyotes in this process, as well as the city's due diligence to the process. We know that there's still work to be done and there's community meetings, but as a whole, looking at the economic impact and looking at what it will mean for the city as a whole, from a tax perspective, from job creation to a lot of the programming that they're going to be supporting, it checks a lot of boxes for us and makes a lot of sense.'

So, it appears that all the conjecture about the Coyotes playing at ASU's Mullett arena will still continue. But, if the project is approved (and it appears it will) all the negative comments about the team playing in a 5,000 seat arena will dissipate... and none too soon!