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Firm balks on minor league baseball for Bowling Green(Daily News, The (Bowling Green, KY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 4--Mandalay Baseball Properties has called "strike one" on Bowling Green's swing for a minor-league baseball stadium, but there are innings yet to go, supporters of the idea said after Tuesday night's city commission meeting. In fall 2005, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with Mandalay, agreeing to help the firm -- which owns five minor-league teams and is in the ballpark-development business -- study whether a 4,000-seat stadium and adjacent commercial and residential development would be a practical project for six downtown blocks. In return, the company would have had first option for the rest of the year on bringing a team to town. But last night, Mayor Elaine Walker read aloud a Dec. 30 letter from Richard Neumann, Mandalay Baseball's vice president for development, saying the development firm would let its exploratory agreement with the city expire with the old year. "The decision to do so is made more difficult given the impressive nature of your downtown revitalization efforts and the evident spirit of cooperation between the public and private sectors," Neumann wrote. "Unfortunately, we are not in a position to relocate one of our existing teams or acquire a team for relocation to Bowling Green. For other developers, however, there is the possibility of identifying another affiliated team owner who is considering relocation or for the developer to pursue independent baseball." In general, Bowling Green's redevelopment plan is sound, but the city and state must provide incentives to attract a master developer for the entire downtown, he said in the letter. Big projects like a ballpark, Circus Square Park and the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center are needed to entice a master developer, Neumann said. The city should probably look locally for a developer who knows the market, he added. Despite Mandalay's departure, baseball boosters called Neumann's observations generally good news. "I don't think that baseball is out," Walker said. Although it's discouraging Mandalay wasn't interested in bringing a team here, the company's general approval of the idea and downtown redevelopment efforts means Bowling Green can still pursue baseball, along with other revitalization projects, she said. Another company has already contacted the city for discussions about bringing a team to Bowling Green, Walker said. Rick Kelley, chairman of "Play Ball! '05," which seeks to bring a team to town, called Neumann's letter "good news/bad news," and said the search for some form of baseball downtown will continue despite the high demand -- and high prices -- for minor-league teams. "When we started this two years ago, teams were selling for $4 million on the market," Kelley said. "Today they're selling for $7 million." Pay plan The second reading of a modest pay raise for about half of the city's employees failed 3-2, the same vote by which it was defeated Dec. 19. All commissioners agreed with the need to pay public employees well enough to retain the best, but commissioners Brian Strow, Mark Alcott and Brian "Slim" Nash said the pay study on which the raises were based was too badly flawed for them to support it. Commissioner Delane Simpson argued for the raises, pointing out the total cost was only $40,000 -- out of an $84 million annual budget -- and that most of that would go to raise some of the city's lowest-paid employees by a dollar an hour. Those employees did not author the disputed pay study, and shouldn't be penalized for its shortcomings, he said. Strow responded that adequate pay does need to be a top priority, but that the study was so badly flawed none of its conclusions should be endorsed. Instead, it should be redone, he said. "As soon as we get an accurate one, I'll be the first one to sign off and say, 'Anyone who needs a raise, let's do it,' " Strow said. Instead, there was general agreement carrying out an accurate pay analysis should become new City Manager Kevin DeFebbo's top priority. Transpark agreement A move by Strow to formally tighten city oversight of the Kentucky TriModal Transpark was tabled by a 3-2 vote, with Alcott suggesting any needed changes can be made through informal administrative action. Bowling Green agreed in 2001 to cooperate with the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority -- an arm of Warren County government -- in developing the transpark, sharing costs and responsibility. That included appointing representatives to the ITA board and regularly reviewing transpark financial statements. But four and a half years into the deal, many of those provisions have not been carried out, Strow said. He doesn't think the transpark is being mismanaged, but the city has a legal obligation to maintain oversight of the project, he said. "If we signed it, let's do it," Strow said. Walker said the mayor submits a list of ITA board candidates to the Warren County judge-executive, but the county must ratify them, since the ITA is part of the county. |