Missoula City Council agrees to spend $2M on baseball stadium
The city of Missoula is buying the baseball stadium.
On a split vote Monday, the Missoula City Council agreed to spend $2 million of urban renewal money and issue $1.555 million in revenue bonds to purchase Ogren Park at Allegiance Field. Mountain Baseball, which owns the Osprey, will pay off the bond, according to a city resolution.
The deal nearly puts to rest the turmoil surrounding the stadium. On Monday, opponents said they feared a financial nightmare would rear its head at the ballpark again, but council supporters said they believed keeping the stadium out of foreclosure was good for Missoula.
"The ballpark is one of those places that really is turning this area into a jewel for the city," said Councilwoman Pam Walzer, who supported the stadium contracts.
"We have a dream for that area where that stadium is," said Councilman Jon Wilkins, who had been on the fence until Monday. "We worked on it."
He said he wanted to support investments already made in the neighborhood and also to keep people working at the ballpark. Wilkins urged people to have faith the contracts will put an end to the facility's financial woes, although he admitted he, too, has lingering doubts.
"Am I leery that maybe things won't work out in the future? Yeah, I'm leery about that," Wilkins said.
Some members of the public were more than leery. At a public hearing last week, many supporters along with opponents of the deal packed Council Chambers. On Monday, only a couple of opponents spoke.
"It's surprisingly easy to spend other people's money, isn't it?" said Linda Frey, who noted she was disturbed about the pattern of bailing out the baseball stadium.
Councilors Lyn Hellegaard, Renee Mitchell and Dick Haines opposed the deal, and Mitchell did so with a "No, no and no."
Hellegaard said she remained concerned about several issues. She worried that if Mountain Baseball defaults on its payments, the situation will have some residual effect on the city's other bond ratings.
Missoula City Council - News
The city of Missoula is buying the baseball stadium. On a split vote Monday, the Missoula City Council agreed to spend $2 million of urban renewal money and issue $1.555 million in revenue bonds to purchase Ogren Park at Allegiance Field.
Jacob Wustner looks over some of the bees that his family's business keeps on the edge of Missoula on Friday. Wustner says he thinks it's a good idea that the Missoula City Council is considering regulations to allow beekeeping in the city limits.
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MISSOULA, Mont. -- Some Missoula City Council members hope to join a nationwide fight involving political contributions and corporations.
The push stems from a 2010 supreme court decision that governments can't ban corporate political contributions. Some Missoula Council members say citizens can't compete with corporations when it comes to contributing to a candidate or party. Cities like Boulder, CO and Madison, WI have already passed initiatives that urge congress to change the constitution to say corporations do not have the same rights as citizens. Some council members want Missoula to take the same stance. "This is happening all across the country," Councilwoman Cynthia Wolken said. "I don't consider this to be a partisan issue. I think it's something democrats and republicans and anyone who's interested in a citizen-run democracy can be interested in." The Missoula City Council will vote on the issue Monday. If they approve, the voters will have their say on this November's ballot.Missoula City Council - Bookshelf
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