A resolution in a recent dispute between the Atlanta Braves and Cobb County government over SunTrust Park infrastructure fees is expected to be announced at Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt sent word late Monday afternoon that the two sides were working through mediation to settle a flap that began over the spring and was made public last week.
In May, the county sent the Braves a bill for what it said were $1.5 million in overdue stadium development fees for water and sewer services.
The Braves balked, and in response sent a heated letter to the county demanding $4.6 million for transportation costs, building permit fee refunds and legal expenses.
The story was first reported by 11 Alive, which obtained documents of legal correspondence that includes contentious language between lawyers representing both sides.
Cavitt said Monday that the Braves were tentatively agreeing to pay the $1.5 million initially sought by the county, plus another $380,000 for a signage and maintenance contract for a pedestrian bridge over I-285 that services the stadium.
In return, Cobb has agreed to refund a negotiated amount of money in project management costs, but those terms were not disclosed. The Braves, Cavitt added in a release, “will withdraw all other demands.”
Commissioners were meeting in an executive session on Monday.
Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb, who represents the SunTrust area, told East Cobb News before the settlement was announced that reports of the dispute were overblown and that in negotiation letters between attorneys, they’re “asking for the moon.”
The county is represented by Thompson Hine, an Ohio-based law firm with offices in Atlanta, while the Braves have retained the Marietta firm of Sams, Larkin, Huff and Balli, best known for handling high-profile zoning cases in Cobb.
Ott said the “relationship is strong” between the county and the Braves, who nearly five years ago struck up a 30-year deal to finance and service SunTrust Park as the new home of the Major League baseball team.
The details of the Cobb-Braves memorandum of understanding have been haggled out ever since. Last year, as the stadium was set to open for its first season of baseball, the Braves asked, and received, an additional $14 million from the county for transportation and improvement costs.
Cobb is paying off around $300 million in bonds for its share of stadium costs, at a cost of around $5.5 million a year through the budget process.
Ott said he has “conversations all the time” with the Braves that also covers police costs and hospitality issues in the area.
“We’re constantly working to minimize the exposure to the taxpayer,” he said, pointing to an initial annual bond cost projection of $8.6 million.
That $5.5 million annual sum, Ott said, is the only taxpayer component in the stadium revenue stream.
The Braves also have turned real estate developer, nearly having filled out The Battery, a mixed-use complex of shops, restaurants and a hotel adjacent to the stadium.
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