Athens-Clarke County commissioners unanimously approved $25.8 million in new bond financing for the Classic Center Arena at their meeting last night.
In recent meetings, commissioners expressed concerns about the project’s skyrocketing costs, caused in part by the need to remove a significant amount of rock from the building site. Revenue from the Classic Center Arena will pay back the bonds.
But, the approval of the third round of bond financing comes with greater accountability. Commissioners also created a bond oversight committee to monitor how the bond money is spent and repaid.
“Hopefully this oversight committee will do its job and look at the bonds and make sure that we have assurances that the taxpayers who are backing these bonds are looked after,” said District 10 Commissioner Mike Hamby. “And I certainly have full faith and confidence that the Classic Center Authority will make sure that this arena is built and serves this community well.”
District 2 Commissioner Melissa Link said she hoped the newly created oversight committee would help guarantee tangible benefits for nearby neighborhoods.
“I'm glad to see that oversight committee and I want some real assurance that the community is going to directly benefit from the arena, that there will be jobs directly marketed to the neighboring community,” Link said.
