What's Going Down(town)

Councilman wants city to renegotiate with ballpark owner
John Shoaff tells mayor Hardball Capital isn’t meeting its end of deal
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“Fort Wayne City Councilman John Shoaff, D-at large, has followed up a comment at Tuesday’s council meeting with a written request to Mayor Tom Henry. His message: It’s time to renegotiate the city’s agreement with Hardball Capital, because Hardball isn’t meeting its end of the deal.”

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““It is easy to see why the city negotiators felt so strongly that this condition must be met,” Shoaff wrote in a Friday letter. “Without it, the remaining terms of the agreement with financial implications create a totally one-way flow of revenues. Most revenues go to Hardball, and their net they can take to Atlanta; but ‘All city revenues received will be deposited into a capital maintenance fund that will ensure the long-term upkeep of the facility’ …. Furthermore, ‘the city agrees to deposit a minimum of $230,000 into the fund annually’ even if its revenues fail to reach that sum.”

Henry did not comment on the letter. But John Urbahns, the city’s director of community development, said the city reserves the right to use that option, but at this time, city officials continue to believe Hardball Capital is working in good faith to complete the project and meet its commitment.”