After months of debating whether the city should build a minor league baseball stadium and other surrounding projects, the question still remains: Can one of the state's poorest cities afford this?
Here's city Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings at a packed meeting in the city's North End: "How much money will these current projections cost the residents of the city of Hartford?" she asked.
Before we get to that answer, here's what the projections are. It's a $350 million project that includes a stadium, a brewery, a supermarket, apartments, retail, and parking. The city would be on the hook for more than $4 million a year in lease payments for the stadium. Segarra, his staff, and the developers from DoNo Hartford, LLC spoke to the city council and others Wednesday night as the council got its first look at the numbers.
So now, to the councilwoman's question -- how much will these projections cost Hartford's residents?
"Zero on their real estate tax," said Darrell Hill, the city's chief operating officer. "All of the revenues identified are either coming from the [developer] themselves or by use of the various assets -- meaning going to a game, parking in a facility, parking at a surface lot. There is no citywide tax associated with any of the revenues identified."
That's a big promise for the city to make, and it's one Oz Griebel would like to see in writing. He's the head of the MetroHartford Alliance regional chamber of commerce. And he told the city council that while he supports the stadium proposal, his support is qualified. He said it needs to include a pledge to decrease taxes.
"That you actually have a preamble on your resolutions to say that this council, and ideally subsequent councils, are determined to see that...the grand list grows and that the mill rate is reduced," he said.
It's a sober request in the midst of a good deal of understandable boosterism. Here's how Mayor Pedro Segarra sees the prospect of baseball in the capital city.
"This project will reconnect a neighborhood that, for almost half a century, has been an unproductive sea of parking lots yielding no harvest," he said. "Let's stop talking about potential and let's reach our potential."
This is only the first step in the city council's review. It plans to meet again next week.