County may step up to plate for Bears

YAKIMA --  Options for a future home for the Yakima Bears baseball club could include staying put under the right conditions, a rebuilt Yakima County Stadium or a new facility.

The Bears -- in recent days -- have been exploring multiple options, including a new facility to be built at State Fair Park.

The first matter of business is for the Bears to exhaust efforts to build a new facility on the old Boise Cascade mill property. If that can't be worked out, then officials with the Bears and the county could begin serious talks about the State Fair Park possibility, county Commissioner Mike Leita said Friday.

Club officials have expressed concern about the length of time it is taking the city of Yakima to lay out financing plans for a 10-acre site where the approximately $25 million multipurpose stadium would be erected.

The Bears had hoped to see the facility, built on property donated by the property's ownership group, available by the 2012 season.

"That hasn't progressed as quickly as we thought," Bears General Manager K.L. Wombacher said Friday. "Now we are in a stance of continuing to push for that project because it is the best option. At the end of the day, if we are to stay in Yakima and the city project falls through, we want other options available to us."

Leita, following a meeting with Wombacher on Thursday, said commissioners are willing to work with the Bears if the ultimate choice is to stay put.

"Suffice it to say, the Bears are exercising due diligence in all the array of options that might be before them. We are one of those multiple options," Leita said.

Wombacher has even viewed a possible site in Naches at the request of town leadership for a possible stadium site.

The Bears have said the current county-built stadium, with its 2,654 seats, is too small and doesn't meet minor-league baseball standards.

Just where the city might be on the issue will come into sharper focus Wednesday when the Yakima City Council holds a study session on the stadium issue.

The 9 a.m. study session will mark the first time the entire council has reviewed the club's plans, including a combination of public and private financing for the proposed 3,000-seat facility.

"We hope to find out if the city is willing to take a shot at this. We aren't asking them to build it, only that they take a shot to put a solid funding plan together." Wombacher said.

Financing could be tricky. Leita said county commissioners have nixed the idea of using a state sales tax fund meant for infrastructure improvements. Those funds are generally set aside to attract new or expanded industrial developments to the area.

Likewise, the city may not be able to use another state sales tax-fueled funding mechanism, known as Local Infrastructure Financing Tool or LIFT.

The financing funds economic development projects by allowing cities to keep sales tax generated by those projects. The city would have to sell bonds to finance the improvements with the tax revenue being the repayment source.

City spokesman Randy Beehler said the city isn't certain the LIFT money could be used for a stadium.

He said the city needs to have a fiscal analysis of the project completed and that would only occur if the city council authorizes it.

"The Bears have done a preliminary study identifying some resources, but if we were to move forward, we would need to have that carefully and closely analyzed," he said.

As for the current stadium, Leita said it is clear the Bears remaining there would require reconstruction of the existing park or a new stadium nearby.

"We know they are obliged to look at what is best for the interests of their organization," Leita said. "If they come back and believe this is the best option, we will engage in a very concentrated effort to make that happen."

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.