With staff members in Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp's office stating they need more time to learn about a newly revealed proposal to fund construction of a $120 million ballfield for the Chattanooga Lookouts, county commissioners have pushed a vote on the plan to Feb. 14.
The board had originally been scheduled to consider the updated proposal Feb. 7, the day after the Chattanooga City Council is set to vote.
Commission Chair Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, met with the team, landowners and city officials last week to strike a deal that would require the private partners to absorb costs above $112 million.
Members of the Hamilton County Commission questioned the process during their meeting Wednesday and said they want Wamp's office and finance staff involved in future negotiations for the new stadium, which would go up on 9 acres on the former U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site. Wamp has been a consistent and vocal critic of the project dating back to when it was announced in the summer of 2022, when he was a candidate for county mayor.
"Moving forward, I would definitely want to see the mayor and his administration and his staff be involved in these negotiations," Commissioner Mike Chauncey, R-East Ridge, told his colleagues. "Without that, it's not a team effort."
(READ MORE: Taxpayer cost for Lookouts stadium will hold to $112 million, officials say)
Chauncey said he wants Chief Financial Officer Lee Brouner to take a hard look at the deal. If Wamp's staff members are not involved in negotiations going forward, Chauncey said, he will vote no on the project.
Before Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Brainerd, had a chance to meet with developers about the new proposal, he received a news release announcing that officials had secured a "final deal."
"I don't know how you can have a final deal without 11 votes," Helton said, a reference to the number of elected leaders on the County Commission. "I know I gave no proxy of mine. I'm not aware that anybody else did. I'm just not sure how it went down, but it was disturbing to me."
It was troubling and lacked transparency, he said.
"I do appreciate the progress you did make," Helton said to Eversole. "I just don't like how it went down."
'Get this right'
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, said Wamp and his staff need to be at the table.
"A child born today will be 31 years old when this stadium is paid off," Shipley said during the meeting. "We've got to get this right."
Wamp has criticized Eversole for his role in negotiating an updated financing plan, saying in a statement earlier this week it was highly inappropriate for him to represent the county without involving the chief financial officer, the mayor's office or his fellow commissioners.
During the last year and a half he's been on the board, Eversole said, the county mayor hasn't met once with the group to negotiate with developers — which Wamp contradicted. Like the mayor, Eversole said, he could not commit to the plan without final approval from the Hamilton County Commission and the Chattanooga City Council.
"I'm just one of a 11," Eversole said. "This whole dais up here has a very important voice on this whole deal."
Wamp said Wednesday he has met three times with the master developer of the larger 120-acre site, Jim Irwin — twice over video conference and once in person. He's also talked with Gary Chazen, president of Perimeter Properties, and other people involved in the project, Wamp said.
"I want to clarify that I have met with them three different times," he said.
Perimeter Properties owns the 120-acre U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site between Broad Street and Interstate 24 where the ballpark would go, replacing 23-year-old AT&T Field on Hawk Hill.
Cory Gearrin, Wamp's deputy mayor of economic and community development, and CFO Brouner have been his ongoing representatives throughout this process, the mayor added. One week ago, Wamp said he and his team briefed Eversole about the latest concerns they had about the plan. They were scheduling a time for Wamp to meet with Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly to work on the negotiations, he said.
"Instead of trusting Lee Brouner and Cory Gearrin and I to do that, you involved yourself at that point," Wamp told Eversole.
Commissioner Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, said he found it notable that, on a project of this magnitude, Wamp has only met with developers three times.
"I'm sorry, but I appreciate Chairman Eversole's effort to get this going," Baker said. "Now, we have a catharsis. Everybody, hopefully, is now awake. We're ready to go. Let's put our heads together. ... Mr. Mayor, the ball is in your court. Please work with us. We want to get this thing moving."
Catching up
Brouner said he had a long conversation Tuesday with the bond counsel for the project, Mark Mamantov. He also learned a lot from the presentation Mamantov gave to the City Council on Tuesday afternoon, but Brouner said he still has questions about multiple aspects of the deal.
The stadium was to cost $80 million when the project launched in 2022, but construction more recently has been pegged at $120 million. Wamp said a more honest accounting would disclose a price tag of $129 million, including financed interest costs.
"I'm just very, very fresh on the new terms that are being negotiated here," Brouner said. "I will need some more time to basically be comfortable that the taxpayers are being protected adequately."
In the coming weeks, city and county leaders will decide whether to authorize a jointly-created sports authority to pay back a $32 million loan using new property tax revenue generated in a 470-acre district around the proposed stadium. That's lower than the $40 million loan officials were discussing in early January.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga Lookouts to recoup $3 million upfront stadium payment)
Perimeter Properties and the Chattanooga Lookouts are borrowing that money from a consortium of banks to help cover cost overruns for the project, which have grown from $79.5 million to $129 million counting capitalized interest on the loans. In an effort to lower the public's exposure on the project, the team and landowners now intend to cover any costs beyond $112 million.
Clawbacks
Near the end of the board's approximately three-hour meeting Wednesday, Wamp stepped up the microphone to publicly outline his concerns about the new deal and was interrupted several times by Baker and Eversole, who advised him to bring those points to the negotiating table.
"It's something that I feel an obligation as a countywide elected official to explain publicly," Wamp said, "and this appears to be the last time there'll be discussion on this subject until it's voted on."
Among those concerns were the affect of diverting future tax revenue in the 470-acre district on the county budget, which has to absorb inflation and provide services with limited growth in the property tax base.
There also needs to be a transparent conversation about including clawbacks in the deal, Wamp said, which would protect taxpayer investments if certain commitments aren't met.
"If there aren't any clawbacks, we put ourselves in a position where it all sounds great, but it doesn't necessarily transpire," he said.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press on Monday asked city staff to provide the total cost of paying off the $80 million and $32 million loans with interest. Officials have not yet provided that information.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.