Surrey city council is expected to make their decision on whether or not to move forward with the proposed South Surrey casino tonight following the second half of its public hearing process on the project.

Having begun earlier this week with a Monday session that lasted six-and-a-half hours, part two of the public hearing is expected run even longer if it continues at the same pace.

While there will not be an opportunity for anybody new to sign up to speak, council must still hear from an estimated 115 speakers as only 72 were able to do so Monday night.

For Coun. Marvin Hunt, the process is all about giving everyone the opportunity to have their say in the controversial development.

"We had six hours of people talking, got through more than 60, so that was pretty good," he said of Monday's session. "People, when passionate about something, you have lot of points across and I thought they did a very good job at being succinct."

Hunt also said he would not be surprised if council would make their decision immediately following the hearing's conclusion, barring any further questions or information required by staff or otherwise.

"I would expect council will make a decision at the end of the public hearing because that's normally what we do," he said. "That may change if staff needs clarification on something or it gets referred back to staff for more information, but I expect that council would make a decision afterwards."

The South Surrey casino public hearing continues tonight at 7 p.m. at Surrey City Hall.

For updates throughout the evening, follow The Now Newspaper on Twitter at @thenownewspaper and reporter Christopher Poon at @questionchris. Also, be sure to check out www.thenownewspaper.com tomorrow morning for a recap of the night's proceedings.

cpoon@thenownewspaper.com