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City deals with input; many worry about new ballpark money
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
Don Flow listened intently as a resident spoke to the City Council at the meeting Monday night.
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Published: June 17, 2009
Winston-Salem officials spent yesterday taking calls and answering e-mail from residents about a proposal to lend more money to finish the downtown baseball stadium.
Tonight, the Winston-Salem City Council might make a decision.
But first, council members tried to deal with some of the concerns expressed at a special meeting Monday, which was attended by more than 200 people.
Though many of the speakers supported the deal, many of those who attended and didn't get to speak questioned how the deal was negotiated and what role politics played in those negotiations.
They also questioned why the city would step in to help a private business and they said that, if the council approves the deal, they want officials to be open about how the city's loan is spent.
Mayor Allen Joines said yesterday that he wants to create a citizens' committee to oversee how the city's loan money is used.
Joines said he wants to create the committee, "right away, before any money is spent."
So many people signed up to speak that the council chose to continue the meeting until 6 tonight. During tonight's meeting, which will be held at City Hall, they will hear more public opinion about the proposed deal and, possibly, vote on the plan.
If the deal is approved, the city would take out a loan for $12.7 million to buy land for the stadium and to help finish construction. The stadium, which would be the home of the single-A Winston-Salem Dash, is being built at First Street and Peters Creek Parkway. Prim's development company, Brookstown Development Partners, would repay the loan over 25 years.
The city would also advance Prim's development company, Brookstown Development Partners, $2 million from a federal grant to pay for parking lots and roadwork. The grant has been approved, but must be amended to include the roads for the stadium.
And the city would finance $980,361 for Prim to buy city-owned land around the stadium. Prim would pay for that land purchase over five years.
Ownership of the stadium would transfer to the city after 25 years.
Joines said that, if the council approves the deal, none of the city's loan money would go to Prim's former business partner, Andrew "Flip" Filipowski. Prim has been buying out Filipowski's share of the team.
"Our money is going for purchase of the land and for construction in the stadium," Joines said. "That would be reviewed by construction folks, by the bank and by this citizens' review committee."
Filipowski, who is divorcing Prim's wife's sister, said last fall that he no longer wanted to own part of the team. Prim said last week that, when Filipowski pulled out, one bank that is financing construction on the stadium pulled back part of its loan. He said that the economic crash made it impossible for him to borrow enough money to finish the stadium.
The stadium, which is expected to cost about $40.7 million, is about 60 percent complete. Contractors are owed about $10 million for work they finished but for which they have not been paid.
City officials have said that, without the city's financial backing, the stadium won't get finished.
Harrison Campbell, a professor at UNC Charlotte who specializes in regional economic development and who has studied the effects of minor-league ballparks on cities, said that leaving the stadium unfinished could hurt the city's economy.
"Just like dilapidated housing in a residential neighborhood, half-finished office towers or baseball parks are effectively blight and do not attract additional investment," Campbell said. "And the flip side of this is construction work is really good for kick-starting a local economy. So in the very, very short run, one benefit is simply to pay these guys and get them back to work so they can be buying building materials and doughnuts in the local coffee shop and providing a little stimulus to Winston-Salem."
City council elections are in November and only one member of the Democrat-led council, Nelson Malloy, has said he will not run.
Joines, a Democrat, said in December that he plans to run for a third term.
Nathan Tabor, the chairman of the local Republican Party, said he thinks that the ballpark's problem could pose problems for Joines, though no Republican candidate has stepped forward to challenge him.
Tabor said that the ballpark plan, which requires that the team sell 350,000 tickets a year, isn't fiscally responsible.
Joines' campaign sent out an e-mail urging supporters to back the ballpark proposal and some of the people who spoke in favor of the deal on Monday, including Prim himself and local business owner Don Flow, contributed to Joines' 2005 campaign.
Joines said yesterday that his decision to back the ballpark is not about politics.
"We are about creating jobs for the city, and in order for us to be successful in that regard, I think we have to be able to show that we are a progressive city," Joines said. "I think what we heard from a number of folks -- not just economics professionals, but young people, more senior folks too -- who see the importance of the city to be able to complete this project."
Some council members said they have not made up their minds about the proposal.
Council member Dan Besse, a Democrat, represents the city's Southwest Ward. Besse said he has not decided how he will vote tonight.
"To be absolutely fair to all sides involved, the sun's not going to rise or set depending on if Winston-Salem has invested in a ballpark project," Besse said. "Which is not to say it's not an important question that we have to take seriously -- it is -- but it's at the top of very few people's lists."
■ Laura Graff can be reached at 727-7279 or at lgraff@wsjournal.com.
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