Stadium News - Sort of

The vote on the remaining contracts may be just days away and then again not.

Five documents still must be agreed upon by commissioners from the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County. The vote is expected on Jan. 22. If all goes according to script, that could be the day the team's retractable-roof park will become official.

Shortly after that, the club likely will release renderings of what the park will look like.

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The target date to break ground is May, but there is a 30-day window that it can fall under -- between May 15-June 15.

 

The five documents that commissioners will address are: City/parking agreement; operating agreement; construction/administration agreement; non-relocation agreement; and the assurance agreement, where all parties are bound by all agreements.

The Marlins' negotiations are being led by Derek Jackson, the team's general counsel; Wayne Katz, a top-tier attorney from Proskauer Rose LLP; Joel Mael, the team's vice chairman; and Michel Bussiere, the club's executive vice president and chief financial officer.

 

The reason the Marlins chief negotiators are included in this is that when it comes to hearings at the county: you won't know the players without a program.

The city of Miami will probably be an easy sell.  The county of Miami-Dade, less so.  From my understanding the Marlins don't have the votes at the moment to pass the contracts and that is due to the number of commissioners sitting on the fence.  In other words the nay sayers don't have the majority either.  The Marlins will be going to the meeting to make sure the fence sitters fall to their side of fence.

If the county commissioners meeting goes like last time, it will be long drawn out process with more negative points being brought up than positive ones.  However, it doesn't mean that ones wanting their negative concerns addressed won't vote for the stadium.  They did months ago.  But of course times have changed, so nothing is a sure thing.

We are getting closer to knowing whether the Marlins will get their own stadium, but if I were you, I wouldn't write Jan. 22 on my calendar in ink.  Things change.

More as we get closer.