D.C. Council defers stadium vote

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D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp yesterday postponed a vote on a lease agreement for a new ballpark for the Washington Nationals on South Capitol Street.

Major League Baseball (MLB), in response, threatened to take the city into arbitration and to withdraw its contributions toward ballpark construction and financing if the lease is not approved by the Dec. 31 deadline.

The council had been scheduled to vote on the lease today, but some members were unhappy with certain provisions in the lease and requested technical changes. Council sources also said the vote was postponed because Mrs. Cropp has not garnered the seven votes needed for approval.

Officials said the vote could be rescheduled for Thursday, but that it might not take place until after Jan. 1.

The baseball stadium agreement signed by the city and MLB last year requires the lease to be approved by Dec. 31. Any delay beyond this year likely would allow MLB to seek arbitration. It also could push back construction of the stadium, thus subjecting the city to millions of dollars in penalties.

"Despite today's announcement that you will postpone the vote, we urge the council to approve the lease prior to this deadline," MLB President Bob DuPuy wrote in a letter sent to Mrs. Cropp last night. "If the lease is not approved by then, the city will be in default on its contractual commitments, and we will then have no choice but to prepare for arbitration."

In arbitration, the concessions made by MLB during its negotiations for the lease would be reconsidered, Mr. DuPuy said. Those concessions include a $20 million contribution toward construction of the ballpark and a letter of credit designed to help the city obtain investment-grade ratings on the bonds used to finance the stadium. Baseball also agreed to allow the city to develop parts of the stadium site controlled by MLB, which it said would allow the city to generate funds to pay for cost overruns in stadium construction.

One requested change to the lease involved increasing the number of free tickets distributed to disadvantaged youth in the city. Members also want to ensure that the $20 million contribution from MLB could be used for any purpose related to stadium construction. The original lease indicated that the money should be used for the finishing touches on the stadium.

"The council and I will work with [the mayor] to make sure that the vote on the lease agreement gets agendized as quickly as possible," Mrs. Cropp said.

The delay of the vote likely will make it impossible for the city to sell $535 million in bonds to pay for the project by the end of the year, one benchmark set by MLB.