Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders are poised to vote today on a deal to clear the way for construction of the Bengals' $400.3 million stadium complex and the transformation of the city's central riverfront.
Troy Blackburn, Bengals' director of stadium development, stopped just short of saying a tentative deal had been struck after emerging late Thursday night from a daylong session among city, county and team negotiators.
''I'm optimistic. Considerable progress has been made,'' Mr. Blackburn said. ''I believe we're close enough to be confident something will get done in the near future.''
But Hamilton County Administrator David Krings said shortly after midnight that the staffs were still working and will attempt to finalize a deal this morning.
''I think we're close, but I'm not sure until I sit down and sort it out,'' Mr. Krings. ''If we are at the stage of final details, that could be done over the phone in the morning, but there's no face-to-face meeting scheduled.''
Thursday's session, in the face of today's county deadline and the Bengals' Saturday deadline, took place in the offices of Kroger Co. Chairman and CEO Joseph A. Pichler, chairman of the Cincinnati Business Committee.
''I take my hat off to Joe Pichler for his commitment to get something done,'' Mr. Blackburn said. ''Joe did a wonderful job facilitating the meeting and helped forge consensus wherever possible.''
Cincinnati City Councilman Todd Portune was cautious. Still, Mr. Portune and council member Jeanette Cissell did the paperwork for today's emergency council session in case there is a deal to be passed. They were gearing for a 5 p.m. meeting.
''It depends who you talk to see if there is optimism or not,'' Mr. Portune said. ''We don't want to take this into the weekend and play Russian roulette to see if these deadlines are real.''
County Commission President Tom Neyer Jr. said: ''We have scheduled a meeting for 2 o'clock, and the council has expressed a willingness to meet. Both of our staffs are working feverishly to make '' those meetings relevant.''
Added City Councilman Phil Heimlich, ''We're all working as hard as we can to get an agreement.''
At issue are two separate but intricately related deals:
- A detailed riverfront development agreement between the city and the county.
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An amendment to the May stadium lease between the Bengals and the county that the city finds acceptable.
The city controls 12.5 acres in the heart of the stadium's riverfront site. But City Manager John Shirey has said the city won't transfer the land without a riverfront development deal that the city and county can approve.
The city initiated the talks in July, complaining that the county had given the Bengals ''veto power'' over the entire riverfront in the stadium lease.
The city has sought a lease amendment that it says returns control of the riverfront to the city. The city also wants the county to pay for millions of dollars in riverfront infrastructure.
An upbeat and optimistic Mr. Shirey said during a luncheon speech Thursday that the city and county had already settled the big money issues as well as unspecified property rights and acquisition matters.
Those money issues include:
- A county contribution of $10 million toward the city's $120.5 million overhaul of Fort Washington Way.
- The city and county splitting the estimated $14 million cost of building a new floodwall for Fort Washington Way.
- The city returning to the county property tax payments on the stadium, at least until the stadium debt is paid off. (An estimated $1.4 million annually.)
- The city and county splitting the city's development rents and tax proceeds to help pay the cost of building parking garages in the land freed by the narrowing of Fort Washington Way - an estimated $700,000 annually.
- Determining which government will pay for various street and infrastructure improvements.
Driving the frantic pace of negotiations is Bengals President Mike Brown's vow to kill the stadium deal if the city and county don't reach agreement by Saturday, a date set out in his lease with the county.
If the deal somehow goes sour, speculation is that Mr. Brown would move his franchise to Cleveland.
While the lease doesn't specifically refer to transfer of the city land, it requires the county to have a ''guaranteed maximum price'' by Saturday. County officials say their construction manager can't guarantee a price until the county has the land, because that affects the construction schedule and overtime costs, among other factors.
In addition, the county negotiated deals to buy out the leases of produce companies and a railroad that use city-controlled land. But county leaders say those deals hinge on getting the city land today.
Mr. Shirey said Thursday he expects a deal by Saturday, though he said the world wouldn't end if that didn't happen.
''Mike could agree to a few more days. Everybody could agree to a few more days,'' Mr. Shirey said.
But Mr. Blackburn said none of the sides wants to take the deal past Saturday's deadline.
Mr. Shirey said the complex negotiations are about much more than the city's transfer of land. Rather, city administrators want the city to have the freedom and authority to transform the riverfront into a family entertainment district packed with movie theaters, shops and restaurants.
Outstanding issues between the city and county earlier this week included the timing of the county's transfer of riverfront land to the city for parks, and language in the Bengals lease that would give the city a say in lease changes that affect riverfront development.
Indications Thursday were that the county was willing to give the city a say in any lease changes that pertain to riverfront development.
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