Delay Needed On Harry Grove Stadium Lease Vote

George Wenschhof

The awkward process by The City of Frederick to lease Harry Grove Stadium should cause pause by a majority of the Aldermen when they consider voting tonight on the proposed lease with The Frederick Keys.

Instead of voting to approve the proposed lease, they should consider ways to ensure the process utilized to award the bid was done in a fair manner.

In a previous column originally published on August 21, 2011, I made an attempt to suggest a series of steps, which if taken, were intended to lead to a fair resolution to the use of Harry Grove Stadium.

I suggested first determining the annual financial cost of the stadium to the city so a comparison could be made to the proposals received.

Second, I suggested the mayor and board decide on what, if any, additional revenue streams from the use of the stadium (parking, naming rights,billboard advertising, etc.) were acceptable to the city.

Third, instruct the Request for Proposal (RFP) review committee to receive oral presentations from both respondents to the RFP. This would serve to clarify the proposed revenue from any of the additional revenue streams agreed upon by the city and to ensure an "apple to apples" comparison of the two proposals took place.

Fourth and last, the review committee should present in a mayor and board workshop, their analysis of the two proposals and their recommendation. This would allow for the mayor and aldermen to ask questions and receive answers to questions pertaining to the two proposals.

This transparent process would be of benefit to the city.

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