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Lackawanna County wants help paying $1M for new playing surface at PNC Field.
A Lackawanna County commissioner Wednesday said he and his colleagues will seek financial assistance from Luzerne County to help pay for the replacement of the playing surface at PNC Field.
Both counties own the Triple A baseball franchise, but the stadium is operated by the Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority whose members are appointed by the Lackawanna County commissioners.
Four bids – all for more than $1 million – were received Thursday for the replacement of the playing surface at PNC Field, and Lackawanna County wants Luzerne County to help pay for it.
According to Mike Washo, majority Lackawanna County commissioner, the stadium authority has about $200,000 in its account, leaving a difference of about $1 million.
“Without putting Luzerne County on the spot – I don’t want to do that – but we are all going to be talking,” Washo said. “Luzerne County has wanted to become more involved with the stadium authority and money certainly will go a long way in that discussion. This is a project that must be done; the International League requires all of its teams to have a quality playing surface. If we don’t fix the field, we won’t have a franchise.”
A joint meeting of Luzerne and Lackawanna County commissioners is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. The stadium will be a main topic.
“We will ask our colleagues in Luzerne County to get involved,” Washo said. “The field must be replaced in the fall to be ready for the 2010 season. It’s got to happen; this has to be done.”
Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said she understands the crisis facing Lackawanna County and the stadium, but she pointed to the fiscal problems facing Luzerne County right now.
“My top priority right now is the citizens of Luzerne County,” Petrilla said. “We are facing a budget crisis. Yes, it is vital that the Triple A franchise stays here and we will sit down with Lackawanna County officials and discuss it. But as far as writing a check tomorrow, well that would be tough.”
Petrilla said county taxpayers need to be protected.
“… at this time we have our own fiscal issues to deal with right now and I don’t know when it will all be resolved. There are only so many things you can bite off at one time,” she said.
Republican Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban said the original franchise agreement entered into by the two counties in 1986 shows that Lackawanna County chose to form the stadium authority.
“They appointed all the members,” Urban said. “And somebody authorized former Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert Cordaro to negotiate a management agreement with Mandalay Enterprises. Luzerne County had nothing to do with all of that.”
Urban said he would favor declaring the Mandalay agreement “null and void.” He said that would return the franchise ownership to 50-50 between the two counties.
“At that time I would be willing to sit down and discuss the situation,” Urban said. “Right now we have no rights other than on paper; all major decisions have been made regarding that franchise without Luzerne County’s involvement.”
Urban said he realizes repairs have to be made and made soon.
“That responsibility rests with Lackawanna County,” he said.
Bids to pay for work that will include installation of a drainage system to alleviate the problem that caused postponement of several Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees’ games this year were opened in a conference room at the stadium. Frank Tunis, solicitor for the Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority, and Jim Kehler of Ewing Cole, the architectural and engineering firm that serves as the project’s program manager, supervised the bid openings.
Bids were: Sports Construction Group, Cleveland, Ohio, $1.165 million; Sports Fields, Inc., Canton, Ga., $1.199 million; Burton F. Clark, Inc., New Delhi, N.Y., $1.339 million; Motz Group, Cincinnati, Ohio, $1.593 million.
Kehler said the bids will be reviewed and evaluated by Brickman Sports Turfs Services of Columbia, Md., and a recommendation will be made to the stadium authority. Tunis said the authority’s next scheduled meeting is set for Sept. 30.
“If necessary, a special meeting of the stadium authority will be called to award the bid,” Tunis said. “Our goal is to have the work completed by Oct. 24 and to have the successful bidder maintain the field during the off-season.”