(The Center Square) – The Everett City Council approved a plan on Wednesday that will cost taxpayers another $10.6 million for design work for a new baseball park for the Aquasox, a minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
With the latest contribution, the city will have contributed more than $17 million, but potential cost overruns could add another $25 million to the $120 million downtown project.
The city will also need to float around $40 million in bonds, which it anticipates will be repaid with revenue from the stadium, and pay $2.4 million in yearly costs for the stadium.
The downtown stadium is also scheduled to host a United Soccer League team.
No representatives of the Aquasox, which is owned by a Stockton, California, ownership group called 7th Inning Stretch, showed up at the meeting.
Representatives of the group could not be reached for comment.
But the ownership group has refused to fund the project entirely, securing not only city commitments but also more than $7 million in state funds that were awarded to the project.
Members of the city council made it clear at the meeting that they felt they would risk losing the minor league team if they did not proceed with the stadium deal.
“We want to keep the Aquasock, “ said City Councilman Don Schwab.
Members of the ownership group have said the current stadium on Broadway near downtown Everett doesn’t meet major league baseball standards. The stadium was first built in 1941, though it has seen several renovations over the years.
Other council members said a new stadium would help downtown Everett.
The city has struggled to maintain a vibrant downtown, with crime and store vacancies a constant concern.
But councilwoman July Tuohy said she wanted the same thing, to keep the team, but voted against the plan because she said all the financial pieces are not in place to show that the stadium could turn a profit and the city could pay back the bonds.
“It’s really a vote of caution regarding the city’s financial risk,” she said. “We need to show the funding foundation is in place before we commit more city dollars.”
Tuhoy was the sole vote against the measure.
The city council will need one more vote over the summer to finalize approval of the project.
Former Everett City Councilman Scott Murphy also attended the meeting and urged council members to vote against the plan.
“We still don’t have, as far as I know, a publicly available financial projection that shows whether this stadium is financially viable,” he said.
Murphy said he’s a big fan of the ball club, having attended hundreds of games over the years, but insisted the city needed to conduct more analysis before approving the plan.
The city still needs to find a way to fill in a stadium funding gap that city stadium consultant Ben Franz has estimated at $25 million.
The Aquasox and the United Soccer League have agreed to contribute $17 million upfront to the stadium deal, along with around $100 million in lease payments to the city over the next 30 years.
