The Watertown City Council informally agreed at a Monday night work session not to add $300,000 to the 2008-09 proposed city budget to hire a firm to design a building to house a second sheet of ice at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds arena.

The move essentially kills for at least a year any plans for the city to maintain a year-round sheet of ice.

Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith has been pushing the council to fund the estimated $4.5 million project. The councilman, along with members of the Watertown Hockey Association, Watertown Sports Ventures and ice skating clubs, has lobbied the council to construct the building, which would be attached to the municipal arena.

The arena now holds a single sheet of ice and locker rooms. The ice is removed during the summer for trade shows and concerts.

"We are willing to embark on a significant financial campaign," Watertown Hockey Association board member Joseph A. Fedorko said before the council's decision. "But with no direction, we are significantly limited with no fundraising goal."

Mr. Smith said that rental revenues from the ice skating and hockey clubs would minimize capital costs for taxpayers. The arena also could be chilled using methane the city collects at its sewage treatment plant, he said.

Despite receiving support from Councilman Joseph M. Butler Jr., the expenditure was squashed by the remaining members of the City Council, including Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham.

"I want to see that arena in good shape," the mayor said. "But I'm not willing to spend $300,000 for plans."

The 2008-09 proposed budget does include a $50,000 line item to hire Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown, to prioritize repairs to the 33-year-old structure. Among those projects are repairs to ceiling supports and a new roof.

The city has not yet received an estimate of the cost to build a second sheet of ice from a design firm. Superintendent of Public Works Eugene P. Hayes suggested constructing the building and ice would cost about $4 million. Design fees would be about 10 percent, or $300,000 to $400,000, he said.

Depending on how extensive the new building would be, the city would have to hire a firm that specializes in designing ice arenas, driving up the cost, Mr. Hayes said.

The city is now expected to spend about $775,000 in the upcoming fiscal year to replace the roof. The city plans to spend $1.8 million in the next five years to make repairs to the building and parking lot.