Talks on D-Backs’ stadium stall again
Team says some repairs need to be done this year
The Arizona Diamondbacks say they worry their record-breaking winning streak could be interrupted by equipment breakdowns at Chase Field, and the team again is urging a judge to restart stalled negotiations with Maricopa County or let it find a new home.
The latest flare-up in the seemingly intractable conflict over the 19-yearold stadium threatens to overshadow the thrill of watching the baseball team’s string of on-field successes. The rift seems to deepen by the day.
The team believes that pipes for airconditioning, sanitation, grease and fire protection are “rotting from the inside” and must be replaced within the year to avoid another incident of flood-
ing like the one that happened in June, said Leo Beus, the Diamondbacks’ private attorney.
“We don’t want to be put in a position where we may not be able to play games in this stadium,” he told The Arizona Republic. “If you don’t have airconditioning in a domed stadium in this climate, you simply don’t play baseball.”
Team and county officials were supposed to have moved their quarrel over an estimated $187 million in repairs during the next decade into arbitration. The typically private process of dispute resolution is supposed to be speedier and cheaper than court.
But not long after Superior Court Judge Karen Mullins ordered the Diamondbacks and the county to negotiate outside the courtroom, the Diamondbacks came back asking her for help.
Team officials warned that without the judge’s intervention, stadium improvements could be delayed in the 2017-18 off-season. County officials disagree, noting that $4 million in repairs to concrete and steel structures at the stadium are on track.
“Time is of the essence because critical decisions need to be made regarding, among other things, how to use very scarce resources ... to tackle a rapidly increasing list of needed repairs,” Beus told Mullins in an Aug. 29 filing.
Negotiations have stalled because the two parties have failed to agree on selecting a three-person arbitration panel, Beus said. He asked the judge to set a Sept. 30 deadline for choosing arbitrators, while reiterating the team’s request to move. He cited the recent case of pipes bursting and air-conditioning shutting down at the stadium, a repair of which county officials argue is the team’s responsibility.
“Locating a replacement facility takes a minimum of four years,” Beus wrote. “In light of Chase Field’s deteriorating condition, the Diamondbacks should be permitted to immediately explore other options.”
Maricopa County officials counter that Chase Field repairs on which the parties can agree are proceeding.
The team in April OK’d roughly $4 million in repairs proposed by the county to be done during the off-season. The work would repair concrete and steel damaged by the team’s powerwashing of the stands.
The county Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a $200,000 contract for pre-construction plans “to keep it looking great,” board Chairman Denny Barney said. The approval came after an exchange of heated letters in which the two parties rehashed their dispute. The Diamondbacks accused the county of ignoring millions of dollars’ worth of capital repairs, while the county said many of the repairs are the team’s responsibility.
As for choosing an arbitration panel, Grady Gammage, Maricopa County’s private attorney, argued that talks with the Diamondbacks were advancing until the team asked the judge for help. Now, no one is talking, he said. The county plans to file a reply in court today. The judge has scheduled a Sept. 22 hearing.
“I’m really at a loss to understand what the problem is,” Gammage said. “We’re willing to still talk and try to resolve this, and hopefully there’s a way to do that.”
Gammage said the county had proposed using an arbitration model that would better fit the complex issues.
“As far as we knew, we were going back and forth (with the team), assessing that,” he said.
That’s not how the Diamondbacks see it. Discussions stalled when the county insisted arbitration could not be finished by early next year, making it impossible to get resolution on repairs such as pipes, scoreboards and suites in the off-season, Beus said.