Cr Brown supplied the Otago Daily Times with a written statement yesterday protesting against the finance and corporate committee excluding the public from its discussion on the proposed office block at the Harbour Basin on Wednesday.
He felt it was "very unfair" to hold the discussion in-committee, given the "significance of spend" on the new building.
"While there was one piece of commercially sensitive information on the agenda, it should have been set aside to allow councillors to speak freely in public about the new building," Cr Brown said.
The public was entitled to hear councillors' views on the subject, he said.
In prior meetings, discussion on the building had been held in public, with about four other councillors expressing concerns about costs.
Cr Brown said he was strongly opposed to the building.
While he acknowledged the council needed to cater for staff increases, a costly extravagance funded by ratepayers was not an acceptable answer.
The preliminary estimates of about $28 million was an excessive amount of ratepayers' money "in today's environment" as the council had significant spending planned for the Leith Lindsay Flood Protection Scheme and the Awatea St stadium.
"Other more cost-effective alternatives should be looked at."
He was disappointed the public had not been formally consulted about the waterfront proposal and believed the council had a "moral obligation" to do so.
Cr Sam Neill said when contacted, he had always been opposed to the building, although he also admitted to having mixed feelings about it.
He agreed with Cr Brown's concerns, including over the cost of the building, while also acknowledging it was always expensive to build.
"I'm not convinced you could not do it for a lot less."
However, he believed the building would probably go ahead.
Chairman Stephen Cairns defended the decision to hold the meeting in-committee as an estimate for the building was under discussion.
However, he had told the committee that they could make whatever comments they wished to publicly as long as the estimate was not mentioned.
Only Cr Michael Deaker took that opportunity.
A supporter of the building, Mr Cairns disagreed with claims it was extravagant. It was a "new-age" design but was functional and attractive and "did not blow the budget".
"It's an iconic design, but I don't think that makes it extravagant."
The project would have a "minimal to modest" impact on rates, but how it would be funded had not been decided yet.
He believed the council should wait until they had a tender price before considering whether further consultation was needed.
The council consulted on the concept in its 2006 annual plan.
