Commissioners debate stadium lease

Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium as the Kannapolis Intimidators take on the Rome Braves -Photo by Joey Benton, Salisbury Post

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

The county will move forward with the creation of an amended lease agreement for Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, commissioners decided Tuesday.

County Manager Gary Page presented a set of proposed terms for an amended lease at the Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ Aug. 16 meeting. He said the terms were a result of several meetings with Smith Family Baseball and Kannapolis officials over the past year.

Smith Family Baseball’s existing lease is set to expire Sept. 30, and the team owners have an option to renew for another five years.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Page said the county could keep the current lease, but the team owners would likely continue to lose money, and the county would soon end up with no baseball team and an empty stadium in need of repairs.

The county also could sell the stadium, he said, but in this economy it wouldn’t get much back on its $5.1 million investment.

An amended lease could cap the county’s investment, solve the ownership issue with Kannapolis and allow Smith Family Baseball to be profitable, Page said.

“You have the chance to basically put this to rest,” he said. “It’s been a political football for 15 years.”

County Attorney Jay Dees will draw up a lease that meets both the county’s and the team owners’ approval, he said, and it will then be presented to Kannapolis for negotiation.

Commissioners agreed unanimously Tuesday to include an altered version of Page’s proposed terms.

Commissioner Chad Mitchell said he wanted to keep the lease at five years, instead of giving them an option for 10 years. He said he wasn’t against giving Smith Family Baseball naming rights, as Page suggested, but any revenue from selling the rights should have to go toward stadium repairs.

“I don’t like it, but as far as the best thing for Rowan County citizens, I don’t know how we can get any better,” Mitchell said.

Commissioner Jon Barber moved to accept Mitchell’s changes, and Mitchell later amended that motion with Barber’s approval.

Mitchell said he wanted to add a clause that would escalate Smith Family Baseball’s payments by a small percentage each year. He also asked to strike a term allowing Kannapolis’ $50,000 annual payment to count toward its ownership percentage.

Commissioner Tina Hall said Kannapolis shouldn’t be able to increase its ownership percentage after leaving the county to shoulder much of the financial burden.

“When Rowan County taxpayers have put up money for 15 years, that’s simply not fair,” Hall said. “What’s fair is for Kannapolis to say, ‘It’s high time for us to do our part.’ ”

In addition, Hall objected to the city and county each being given a skybox when the ownership percentage is not equal. She then asked why ownership needed to be resolved at all, when Kannapolis has informally acknowledged the county’s 75 percent ownership.

Chairman Carl Ford added that in past minutes, former county manager Bill Cowan said Kannapolis had agreed to a 75-25 split.

Barber replied that the county needs to get something in writing to solidify that agreement.

Hall also said Smith Family Baseball appeared to be making money and doing better each year, according to financial records provided to the county.

In a letter to commissioners, Page included a statement from the president of the South Atlantic League, Eric Krupa, stating that the team has operated at a loss from 2005 through 2009.

He also included Smith Family Baseball’s estimate of the value of naming rights to be between $25,000 and $50,000 per year, based on the current market and the original $300,000 Fieldcrest Cannon naming rights deal in 1995.

As instructed by commissioners, county staff will seek to include the following terms in a draft of the new lease:

• Smith Family Baseball will be given a five-year lease with an option to renew for another five years.

• Smith Family Baseball will be allowed to operate or use the stadium for the entire year, collecting and retaining all generated revenues.

• Rowan County will assign Smith Family Baseball naming rights for the stadium for revenue to fund facility repairs.

• Smith Family Baseball will be responsible for the payment of operating expenses costing up to $5,000 in value.

• Smith Family Baseball will pay Rowan County and Kannapolis $25,000 per year in rent to be placed in the Sports Authority Fund.

• The payment amount from Smith Family Baseball will escalate by a small percentage each year.

• Kannapolis will contribute $50,000 per year to the Sports Authority Fund for capital improvements exceeding $5,000 in value.

• Rowan County will have 75 percent stadium ownership and Kannapolis will have 25 percent.

• The county and city reserve the right to approve all non-baseball events in advance.

• The county and city reserve the right to use a suite and access to 12 tickets per game.

• Smith Family Baseball will present the most pressing needs of the stadium each year to the Rowan County manager and Kannapolis city manager for joint review and approval for payment from the Sports Authority Fund.

• Signs will be placed at the stadium to acknowledge a partnership between the team owners, the city and the county for support and operation of the facility.

Contact Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.