The controversial deal between Queenstown Airport Corporation and Auckland International Airport Ltd is not on the agenda for today's meeting of the full Queenstown Lakes District Council - the first since the transaction was publicly announced.
QAC announced on July 8 it had created a 24.99% new shareholding and sold it to AIAL for $27.7 million.
AIAL is seeking to increase its interest to up to 35%.
The second tranche option would include community consultation, led by the council.
A decision must be made by June 30 next year.
Councillors were briefed on the transaction the day before the announcement was made public and have since been party to several workshops discussing the deal - none in the public domain.
QLDC governance officer Jane Robertson said the item had been the subject of a draft report, prepared by finance manager Stewart Burns, but the report had not been finished and Mr Burns had gone on leave until September 6.
Mayor Clive Geddes is also on leave, until August 27, so deputy mayor John S.
Wilson will chair today's meeting in Wanaka.
Mr Wilson said Mr Burns had "done a very quick draft" report into the transaction, but it had "quite a few information gaps".
While it had been hoped answers could be obtained before Mr Burns went on leave, that did not happen and the report as it stood "wasn't going to serve its purpose".
"We don't regard it [the issue] as urgent.
"It doesn't mean to say that we're not continuing to consider all of the interests of various parties ... and of course, particularly in terms of council processes involving the potential issuing of additional shares, but that's a separate process the council will be fully involved in ... it's not a process that will be started before the election."
Mr Wilson said it was "hoped" a paper describing the process the council was proposing for the second tranche option and a timeline would be prepared before the council's next full meeting - the last before the local body election - on October 5.
Mayoral aspirant Vanessa van Uden said she understood an independent legal opinion on the process had not yet been obtained, which was the primary reason the report would not be presented today.
Councillors asked for the legal opinion to assess the legality of what had already happened and the "options going forward".
"Personally, I ... am still committed to the fact we should have used the opportunity of the first public meeting after the announcement to provide the community with assurance about how this was going to go forward.
"The ownership has been diluted and I think it was our responsibility to actually provide them [the community] with an assurance about their involvement in any further decision-making.
"I think it's pretty unfortunate that this opportunity isn't going to be taken.
"The council needs to be showing strong leadership to the community on this issue."
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chairman Alastair Porter said it was "extraordinary" the item would not be discussed.
"It's the biggest issue that's affected this town in decades.
"One would have thought since council meetings are the formal opportunity to discuss [councillors'] views, they would have at least been afforded that opportunity ... of discussing the chain of events that led to this decision."
Mr Porter said among those at Destination Queenstown's strategic review board meeting on Thursday was QLDC chief executive Debra Lawson and it may have been an appropriate time to brief all councillors on the meeting.
