With a bevy of unknowns, Elizabethton Twins General Manager and Parks and Recreation Director Mike Mains said Thursday night was a big move to help keep the minor league affiliate within the confines of Joe O’Brien Field.
The Elizabethton City Council met Thursday night and voted unanimously to approve a $3.2 million renovation proposal comprised by the Elizabethton Twins Task Force, followed up by a standing ovation from the packed house of attendees. While the initial proposal by the task force opted to see if the Twins could contribute $600,000, City Council agreed on the proposal with the wordage that the Minnesota Twins organization would contribute one-third of funding for the renovations.
“The unknown has been tough,” Mains said. “This was a big move tonight. The next step now is to actually sit down with Minnesota and discuss what we can get done. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered but I think we’ve seen what this team means to our community. The average person that doesn’t take in a game may not realize what takes place in the stadium and what takes place off the field as well.”
Mains added that the city would look at pursuing negotiations with Minnesota as early as Friday.
The Minnesota Twins organization recently announced the hire of Thad Levine as the organization’s new general manager during the first week of November. Levine is coming off a stint as the assistant GM with the Texas Rangers. With Levine, and Chief Baseball Office Derek Falvey in place, Mains added time is of the essence to begin talks.
The impact made by the Twins is seen in and out of the ballpark, Mains added, with the team taking part in different activities in the city by working with various churches and youth clubs to be involved with the community.
Richard Barker, with Elizabethton Federal, spearheaded the discussions with Mains, outlining the needs and community benefits for the work – citing the benefits the community with see, including the Elizabethton High School baseball team that use the facility for practice and regular season games.
According to the proposal the Task Force compiled, the group stated they believe “by funding a new clubhouse facility for the Elizabethton Twins and improvements made to the Elizabethton High School and visiting clubhouse facility will secure player development needs for professional baseball in Elizabethton for the years to come as no other player development issues can be seen in the near future.”
Part A & B of renovations would include construction of a new Elizabethton Twins clubhouse facility, renovations to the other clubhouses, stadium seating, Riverside Park improvements and the replacement of a stadium knee wall along with safety netting – pegged at $2,368,000. The second part of renovations includes the construction of a new press box, additional stadium seating upgrades and the building of a new picnic area – set to cost $832,000.
While looking for the future, Mains added the facility could use additional staffing to help hit target markets in Roan Mountain, Mountain City and the outskirts of North Carolina to help attract more foot traffic into the park. Along with attracting new businesses, the Elizabethton Twins would look at different avenues, including raising admission by a dollar at the gate and make things more business-organized. For attendance projections, the Task Force compiled the average attendance for last year was 650 individuals – including the possible rainouts and free admission nights.
As far as funding goes, Barker stated the city could go through capital outlay note, financed at 2.75 percent over 16 years with annual payments – which the Task Force believes they can hit with revenue projections.
While in agreement, the issue of revenue was brought up by Councilman Jeff Treadway, who asked the question that if the funds did not come in, would the city residents be willing to absorb a property tax increase to cover the cost. Barker added the over 1,700 signatures on the petition showed the support is there for the Twins, while adding that people he’s spoken with have stated the Twins are an important part of the community. Councilman Richard Tester added that it’s a worthwhile investment to keep the Twins in a state-of-the-art facility.
Along with the potential city funding, the option of finding private donors to assit is also on the table, according to Mains.
Following up the lengthy discussion, Mayor Curt Alexander added it was important to pass the proposal to begin the negotiations with Minnesota.
Another idea for funding came from an item on new business – discussing a resolution to authorize the sale of not-to-exceed $9,820,000 general obligation refunding and improvement bonds. The refinancing could free up funds to be used toward public safety and parks and recreation but the council voted to defer the item until December’s meeting.