City to pay $75,000 for study of stadium financing options 

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The Yakima City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to spend $75,000 studying financing options, potential lease terms and other aspects of a proposed $23 million stadium for the Yakima Bears.

Whether the council has the will to use public money on actual stadium construction -- which could require a tax increase -- remains to be seen.

But its vote Wednesday indicates there is at least some interest in helping the minor league team build a stadium at the old Boise Cascade site, which the city has been working to redevelop.

Councilwoman Maureen Adkison summed up the sentiment of the council majority, acknowledging that spending the $75,000 without knowing whether the plan will move forward is a risk.

"But the greater risk is not taking that step," she said. "We don't know what the study will show. ... We'd be negligent in not at least looking at the possibilities."

Bears General Manager K.L. Wombacher and owner Mike McMurray have said they want to build the stadium without a tax increase. The approved study will help determine whether that's possible, and the council's approval of it showed leadership, Wombacher said.

"That's an investment to make Yakima a better place," he said.

Councilman Rick Ensey, who along with Bill Lover voted against funding the study, said it's not worth studying because of the likelihood that stadium construction would require a tax increase -- something he would not support. Ensey did not want to "spend $75,000 on an outcome of which I'm already pretty much assured."

When the Bears first brought the stadium project before the council in July, the team suggested about $6 million could come from the Yakima County Supporting Investments in Economic Development fund, $10 million could come from state Local Infrastructure Financing Tool funding, $5 million from landfill development grant money and $2.5 million from the team.

Since then, Yakima County has declined to pledge the $6 million in SIED money, and further research has indicated that a ballpark wouldn't qualify for the landfill development money.

But the $10 million in LIFT funding, which a 2009 study commissioned by the team ruled out for statutory reasons, is back in play. City officials now believe the project could qualify for such funding; the extent to which that is true will be sorted out by this newly approved study.

The Bears, meanwhile, have more recently pledged $5 million for the project.

The 2009 study dealt specifically with the feasi-bility of building a stadium in the Yakima market. The $50,000 study was funded by $40,000 from Yakima County and $10,000 from the Bears. It was conducted by Convention Sports & Leisure International.

The Bears, a short-season Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, say they have lost money every year for nearly a dec-ade. Much of the problem, according to the market study, is their home, Yakima County Stadium, which was built for $4 million in 1993.

That stadium was funded primarily with state money left over from construction of the Yakima Valley SunDome. An additional $1 million came from bond proceeds, that were paid off last year. And $400,000 came from hotel-motel taxes.

The team's lease at State Fair Park expires in 2015.

McMurray and Wombacher told the council Wednesday that their vision
for the development in-cludes non-baseball events such as concerts and trade shows. They see a new stad-ium in that location, next to Interstate 82, as a potential catalyst for development in the area, which would provide a welcome mat of sorts to out-of-town visitors.

"This isn't just a stadium for me," McMurray said. "This is a vision for the future."

If it's a future that necessitates a tax increase, though, the council may not be willing to pursue it. Lover and Ensey voted against funding it, so sure were they that it can't be built otherwise.

Mayor Micah Cawley, who voted for the study, expressed his own doubts about that.

"I'm not convinced it is economically feasible," Cawley said. "But I don't know that. We need to know that."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.