City Council 7-24-2007

The Common Council of the City of Fort Wayne addressed Resolution S-07-07-19:

AN ORDINANCE of the Common Council of the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, approving a lease for certain public improvements between the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Authority and the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission.

Joe Kimmel discussed the hotel agreement in much the same way as was done at the recent Redevelopment Commission meeting. He presented the updated agreement to Council and again mentioned other hotels in the Midwest under development by White Lodging that have received significantly more public subsidy than the hotel at Harrison Square.

Councilman Pape commented that the hotel proposal was, in his eyes, a strong agreement that was reached, especially in comparison to other cities. He further added that the lower amount of subsidy given by Fort Wayne to the hotel may have affected the brand level of the hotel, arguing that a higher investment by the City may have resulted in a higher-level hotel.

Councilman Smith asked about the possible expansion of the hotel in the future and where such expansion would take place, since it is slated to expand to the west of the hotel. Councilman Smith commented on the design of the Harrison Square project and the view of the skyline and buildings from the seating areas of the ballpark. Councilman Smith argued that expansion of the hotel to the west would compromise the integrity of Harrison Square and the view of the skyline because of a 6 story hotel expansion. Councilman Smith said that the hotel should build up rather than out in order to maintain the openness and sightlines of the project.

Councilman Pape argued that the focal point of Harrison Square is the private investment included in Harrison Square and not necessarily the ballpark. He said that the Holy Grail of Harrison Square is to be a catalyst for further development and to draw people downtown.

Councilman Talarico commented that the first positive element of Harrison Square is simply the talk about Harrison Square that has increased interest in the downtown area even before the shovels have been turned for Harrison Square.

Tim Haffner discussed the condo and retail agreement, the stadium management agreement, and the stadium license agreement, also much in the same way as the recent Redevelopment Commission meeting.

Councilman Schmidt asked about the operating statements of Hardball Capital and Barry Companies that he requested in a previous City Council meeting. City controller Pat Roller and consultant Steve Brody noted that they had reviewed both the operating statements of Hardball and Barry and also the personal finances of the owners. Councilman Schmidt asked why the information had not been presented to the Council and Steve Brody said that since the companies are privately held, their financial statements are also private. Brody said that there is no reason to believe that Barry would not be able to cover their costs and that Hardball also has more than enough capability to cover their associated costs.

Councilman Pape noted that there should be a policy for requesting the information sought by Councilman Schmidt instead of "cherry picking" which companies should have their financial information requested of them. Councilman Pape also noted that he thought such a policy would be bad policy.

Councilman Shoaff argued that the information should have been provided considering the scope of the project.

Councilman Crawford asked if there were any major deviations between the summary that was previously presented to Council and the current information at Council. Tim Haffner noted that there were no major deviations.

Councilman Didier asked about the possibility of having a different affiliation for the Wizards. Tim Haffner explained the agreements between Major and Minor League baseball teams and that affiliations usually last for 3 years. As mentioned before on DFWB, the agreement between the Wizards and the Padres expires in 2008, right before the 2009 season at the Harrison Square ballpark.

Councilman Smith asked about the issue of cost overruns and what would happen. Mark Becker noted that the project will be bidded out and that recent public projects in Fort Wayne have come under budget and on schedule. Becker noted that the budget for the project would include contingencies to account for cost overruns. Councilman Smith also asked about the time frame for bidding out the project. Steve Brody noted that components would be bid out during the fall of this year.

Discussion moved on to the recent ruling concerning the social services center in Fort Wayne that charged that a request for proposal process had to be followed for services provided by the State. The services were deemed fundamental state functions and that the RFP process applied. In relation to Harrison Square as possibly being considered providing public services, the counsel advised that the statute did not apply for Harrison Square. Legal counsel advised that the statue would have to be put into City law by way of resolution or ordinance by the City Council in order for the statute to apply. Legal counsel also noted that because of the ruling in the other case, the City has the right to negotiate the management of the ballpark with a private entity because such management is not a fundamental public service.

Resolution S-07-07-19 passed by City Council.

Final vote breakdown:

For:
John Crawford
Tom Didier
Tom Hayhurst
Tim Pape
Sam Talarico Jr.

Against:
Don Schmidt
John Shoaff
Tom Smith