Just days after it was established and as a blizzard targeted the state, the Hartford Stadium Authority met, chose its officers, and approved tens of millions in borrowing that will allow the city to build a minor league baseball stadium for the New Britain Rock Cats.
The meeting was held last week. The sale of the bonds is apparently next week, and all eyes will be on what investors will charge the authority for its money.
Meanwhile, the city says negotiations are ongoing between it and the developer DoNo Hartford LLC. A document provided to the stadium authority suggests that an agreement between the city and the baseball team has already been signed.
Asked to release signed contracts with the developer, the city declined, saying it is keeping them in escrow. Here's what city lawyers say that means:
Holding documents in escrow means that they are not final and the agreement they embody are not in operation until the escrow is released. Therefore, these are similar to a draft, in that they may not be released if the escrow conditions are not met.
The city did not respond when asked whether the signed documents had in fact been signed by both parties. In any event, city spokeswoman Maribel La Luz said the negotiations will be completed soon and the documents will then be available for inspection.
"We're simply in our final homestretch of negotiations," she said. Developer Bob Landino has said that a ground breaking could happen next week.
