Athens Clarke County commissioners on Tuesday postponed a vote on a third round of bond financing for the classic Center Arena project.
The delay comes despite both good news and a dire warning from the classic center's director, Paul Kramer. Speaking before a vote on Tuesday, Kramer told commissioners that the master developer, which had dropped out earlier this month, was back on board.
"It was not an easy effort," Cramer said. "It took a great deal of time to sit back down at the table and truly understand what the dynamics were that sort of pulled us apart to begin with."
But Kramer warned that commissioners needed to approve a $25.8 million round of bond financing to seal the deal.
"If we were to delay this vote and moving forward tonight a number of things would happen," he said. "The contract that we worked so hard to bring the developer back under contract would be null and void. We would have to start all over again."
Commissioners were split on whether to move ahead with the bond measure.
District Five's Dexter Fisher urged his colleagues to take a vote, saying more delays would essentially punish the developer for coming back to the negotiating table.
What is two weeks' delay going to do?" Fisher asked. "I don't think we need to kick the can down the road."
But District 10s Mike Hamby disagreed, voicing his concerns about the project's rising price tag.
"This project is going up to $151 million. There would be an additional $100 million in interest payments - that's $250 million for this project," Hamby said. "I think it's going to pay off for our community in in the long run, but we're going to be paying for it in the long run."
Commissioners ultimately voted 6 to 4 to postpone the vote until September 5th.
