By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
Rowan County commissioners voted Monday to let Kannapolis delay payments for two years on the county’s share of Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
On Feb. 21, the Rowan County Board of Commissioners made its initial offer to sell its share for $3 million, which would be paid over 50 years at no interest.
Kannapolis City Council voted Feb. 28 to accept on the condition that it begin payments in fiscal year 2013.
Commissioner Jim Sides made a motion Monday to accept the city’s counter-offer and charge 3 percent interest on the two deferred payments. It was approved unanimously.
He said the meetings between county and city officials have been “very agreeable.”
“At our last meeting, we made two offers — one to buy and one to sell,” Sides said. “I’m glad they decided that it’s in their best interest and everybody’s best interest for them to buy it. We’ve finally come to a resolution that I think will work out for the best for everybody involved.”
The county had agreed to pay $750,000 for Kannapolis’ share of the stadium if the city wanted to sell.
At the time of the initial offer, Sides said the county’s goal is to place the stadium under one owner. Lease negotiations with Smith Family Baseball, owner of the Kannapolis Intimidators, have been drawn-out and difficult with three parties involved.
The county will receive $2 million less from the sale than the $5.1 million it has invested in the stadium over the past 10 years.
County Manager Gary Page said that since Kannapolis’ meeting, he has been in touch with City Manager Mike Legg about the offer.
“I shared with the city manager some concerns among board members about the fact that we would go two years without receiving any money,” Page said. “We’re offering a 50-year, no-interest sale, and that basically turned it into a 52-year sale.”
In an e-mail to Page Monday afternoon, Legg cautioned that the council’s decision to buy the stadium “was not rock solid.”
“We have three, possibly four councilmembers that could easily end up on the ‘no’ side if we tinker with this too much,” Legg wrote. “The two-year reprieve in payments was one of the key points (maybe THE key point) that got us to a unanimous vote to buy the stadium.”
He proposed delaying payment two years and financing the entire $3 million over 48 years. This would result in annual payments of $62,500 starting in fiscal year 2013-14.
Legg said the city also would agree to pay interest on the deferred payments for the first two years.
Commissioners agreed to instruct the county attorney to work with the city attorney on these terms.
“I’ve gotten a couple of calls about this… we’re not giving the stadium away,” Commissioner Carl Ford said. “The ownership has been in question for a while. This does away with that, so we won’t have to spend any court time on that.”
Ford also said the clawback provision means the city has “hoops it has to jump through” if it decides to sell the stadium.
Under the county’s offer, if the owner sells the stadium before payoff — or within three years of early payoff — the city and county each would receive half the payment above $3.75 million.
Money in the consortium fund would remain for the city’s use. Kannapolis would be responsible for making future repairs and improvements to the aging stadium.
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.