"We are staying put until we receive anything formal from the city," said Chamber Executive Director Kristin Davis.

In anticipation of the recent city council reorganization, Mayor Nick Streit said the council decided to put the issue on hold until the new council members serving as liaisons to the subcommittee had been assigned.

"It wasn't right for us to make some long-term agreements" until the council reorganized, Streit said, adding that he expects the committee members from the city to finalize a contract with the Chamber in the "very near future."

Following new council members Norman Kline and Kathleen King's assignment to this committee last week, Kline, who has dealt with Davis and other Chamber personnel due to his own membership in the organization, said he had just had lunch with Davis the day of his assignment and had immediate plans to set up another meeting.

"Our main goal is to help the Chamber do their business," he said.

The date by which the Chamber might have to vacate the city-owned building is now a floating date until the new ad hoc committee reaches an agreement, the mayor said. Only if no agreement is reached will the council then proceed with determining a date, he said.

Though the Chamber continues to voice a desire to remain at the McWilliams house, the staff has also spent the last several months looking for alternate sites.

"It would be foolish not to look, considering what statements have been made by the council this year," Davis said.

Since February, the two agencies have been discussing the possibility of the city charging the Chamber market-rate rent for use of the building on 20460 Saratoga­Los Gatos Road. In turn, the Chamber would charge the city the normal rate for services it provides, such as the distribution of tourist and city information.

Under the existing set-up, the city pays the Chamber approximately $3,400 a year for services that, according to Chamber estimates, has an actual value of $43,000. At the same time, the city has allowed the Chamber use of the building for a $1 annual rental fee instead of charging $33,000 per year, according to city documents.

Negotiations between the city and Chamber came to a standstill after the Chamber submitted its proposal for a fee-for-service contract in October, according to Davis.

In the unlikely event that the Chamber is booted from the house early and finds itself homeless, the staff has an emergency plan drawn up, Davis said, though she would not provide further details.

"If anything should come down and we would need to vacate the house before we have a new space, we will continue to function, no matter what, at the same level," she said.

Both Davis and Streit say they are confident the matter will be resolved now that the new council has taken office.

And no matter what the outcome, Davis said, the Chamber will come through on top.

"We're a pretty hardy bunch," she said of Chamber personnel. "I have full faith in our ability to make the best of any situation given us."