A citizen’s task force has met several times over the past weeks to discuss all aspects of bringing a Single A baseball team to the city. Their final meeting, set for April 17, will include their decision to whether to forward a recommendation to City Council to pursue a stadium build and bringing a team to the area.
The thirteen member task force, with facilitator Alice Norris, former Mayor of Oregon City, has reviewed the economic feasibility studies, discussed other non-baseball events at the proposed park and reviewed and then selected a preferred placement of the park structures. In a recent meeting they reviewed a preliminary economic impact analysis, and continued work on a facility “good neighbor agreement”.
The “good neighbor agreement” will be the focus of their last meeting on April 19. Task force member Wilda Parks, VP of External Affairs for the Chamber, said the GNA is extremely important. “This document outlines how the Park will be used and how that might impact the neighborhoods and surrounding industrial areas,” she said. “The goal of the agreement is finding that right place for the community as well as for the team and the park management.”
Consultants estimate that 150 new jobs could be developed through the construction and operation of the stadium, alongside new business development that would likely occur in the area and increased business in the current Milwaukie retail areas.
The meeting on the 19th will also provide time for preparation of the presentation to City Council at their May meeting. This is phase two of vetting the project, and if the task force and Council agree to continue to move it forward it will enter the phase of funding mechanisms and team recruitment.