The importance of being comfy

Let's begin by reiterating where we stand as far as fixing up Big Sandy Superstore Arena:

1--they have $4.6mil to work with

2--they will first work on seats, then the boiler, then probably look at ice and such

3--because they took the ice work out of the wording for the bond in the first place.

So of course, first up is the seating. And we already have Steve Williams creating a roadblock. Why? Well the arena took two bids for seating. The winning bid was $3.8mil from Irwin Seating, but the low bid was $2.3mil from Hussey Seating. However, the latter is basically the updated version of the same seats that are presently in there and are presently considered inadequate.

Thusly the seating issue has been referred back to the Finance Committee to find "a more coherent matrix for determining the best choice." Or, basically, they're going to try and convince the arena to take the low bid anyway. I'm torn on this somewhat--naturally with that extra mil-and-a-half sitting around, there should be plenty left over for new hockey equipment. Remember, though, that when the hockey infrastructure segment was originally set aside in the bond measure, it was only $300,000. In other words, so long as fixing the boiler takes less than a half-million dollars, the hockey work should be doable anyway!

My personal preference is to have the nicer seats. My stronger preference, though, is to not have this held up unnecessarily...

Stew on this for a little bit, I'll type up something later today

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x104558994/Hockey-proposal-needs-more-study-says-mayor

I have to hit the road for work today. Bloody figures, the one day this week something happens that warrents a long stretch of typing, and I have to be busy. Damn obligations!

Our dates, and this time I'm bloody serious

Bloody serious because it comes from the email desk of Finance Director Deron Runyon:

November 15, 4pm: Municipal Development Authority meeting, first reading there

November 17, 6:45pm: Finance Committee meeting, discussion

November 18, 4pm: City Council work session, discussion for...

November 22, 7:30pm: City Council meeting, first reading there

November 29, 4pm: Municipal Development Authority meeting, special session for second reading

December 9, 4pm: City Council work session

December 13, 4pm: Municipal Development Authority meeting, third reading and vote

December 13, 7:30pm: City Council meeting, second reading and vote

So we will in fact know for sure before Christmas! Now things get fun...

THIS time, I'm pretty damn sure this is the right date

Copypasted from Huntington finance director Deron Runyon:

"It is our intention to file our state application next week requesting approval at the EDA meeting in October."

That would be October 21, kids. If that goes down as hoped for, upgrades for Big Sandy will come just in time for Thanksgiving...

I think I'm dyslexic when it comes to reading tea leaves

It dawned upon me that just because city council APPROVES the city applying for something, does not necessarily mean that the city actually applied that very moment. I then gave the WVEDA a call and was informed that there was nothing relating to the BSSA on their agenda for today's (tonight?) meeting, though there is something up for money for the River Place project. Unless someone was sneaky and worked it into that bundle, the money would not be coming up until the September 16 meeting. Deron Runyon said "end of September" earlier, so I figure if it doesn't come up then, it's probably not coming up.

In the meantime, say hello your new arena manager!

Okay, here's where we stand

A RESOLUTION OF COUNCIL RETURNING THE ALLOCATION OF THE RECOVERY ZONE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOND LIMITATION ALLOCATED TO THE CITY BY THE COUNTY COMMISSION OF CABELL COUNTY UNDER SECTION 1400U-1(a)(3)(A) OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE CODE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF RECOVERY ZONE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BONDS THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY ALLOCATED TO A PROJECT AT THE BIG SANDY SUPERSTORE ARENA FOR THE CITY

Jim Insco confirms that the bonds that Cabell County had approved earlier in the year were returned, since the city had until July 30 to use them anyhow.

AND APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR RECOVERY ZONE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOND VOLUME CAP WITH THE WEST VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

However, the city simultaneously applied at the state level for the same bond. Finance Director Deron Runyon says the city will know the bond status by the end of September, and will have the rest of the year to finalize things.

So things are a little more complicated--the city has to get RE-approved for bonds now--but at least this shows that city council still wants to get this done, despite all the municipal shenanigans going on in Huntington.

UPDATE: 11 Aug, 9:25am: per the website of the WV Economic Development Authority, applications made by the 1st of August would be heard in their meeting on the 19th--next Thursday...

"Nothing, a lot of freaking nothing" --Bill S.

The budget meeting, with regard to any upgrades at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena, resolved... absolutely nothing. These budget meetings have apparently all been regarding current operating budgets--nothing to do with upgrades like the ones we're all crossing our fingers for. So the city is first going to sort out their budget, and THEN shoehorn in bond payments--a bit of a pain in the ass IMO. Word is that the braintrust has something in the cards to generate extra revenue, which hopefully could spill over into new shiny things for the Arena; if not let me put forward this idea:

*ahem*

The bond is $5.1mil, which after interest--a large chunk of which would, since these are Recovery Zone bonds, be paid back by the federal government--I estimate at something like $5.2million.

$5,200,000/20yrs=$260,000
$260,000/365=$712.33/day would need to be generated by a hotel tax.

My estimate is that there are about that many hotel rooms in Huntington city limits, but to be safe let's assume that half the rooms in Huntington will be empty on any given day. $2 would cover our expenses, and if we figure an average hotel room to be, say, $100, it would only be a 2% tax at that. We could go higher if need be. But my point is that this can be done without a whole lot of bloodletting.