Serious talks near on Bass Park management

Talks between the city and Bass Park Associates concerning the private operation of Bass Park have been very informal, but could start in earnest as soon as next week.

The Bass Park Negotations Advisory Committee Tuesday night offered its latest round of hot topics for the talks. The gist of the advice was that the contract should include lease payments, possibly a percentage of the gross, who pays for capital improvements, and maintenance requirements.

Within certain guidelines, the BPA should have the freedom to make sound business decisions, members of the committee agreed.

And another historic dispute needs settling, City Manager Edward A. Barrett said. “Is it here to provide a public service or is it here to make money?”

One of the three partners in BPA, Larry Mahaney, said at the end of the meeting that he has never seen it as a money-making facility but as one designed to bring people to Bangor.

The next step, Barrett said, “is to get staffers together and put something down in writing, give it to Larry and his people, and at least get something out there that can be analyzed and discussed.”

Mahaney said,”We’re ready to sit down anytime for preliminary discussions.”

One possible fly in the ointment is a petition drive seeking to gather enough votes to force the City Council to either accept or put to vote a motion limiting the city to negotiations with United Leisure Services or the city staff currently operating the facility.

The petitions should be returned shortly and the city solicitor has to determine what effect they will have on the negotiations.

In any event, officials are ready to proceed.

“Now that the emotionalism has been taken out of this to a large extent,” Mahaney said, he is ready for the talks to start.

“As far as being a money-maker,” Mahaney said, “I’ve never seen it as such. Any money I make I plan to give back to the city for youth programs and scholarships and such.

“And the other thing, my approach to this is I want the city to be a partner in this, not an adversary,” he said. “I think you’ll find we’ll be very easy to negotiate with. There are a lot of people that think it can be run more efficiently if you take politics out of it and that’s my thrust.”

During the meeting the advisory committee offered comments on the various sections of the complex.

Addressing harness racing, Edward Fowler said that the decision on the number of racing dates should be left up to BPA, and that the city should incorporate language in the contract to ensure that the barns remain open year round.

The decision of the number of racing dates is a policy decision that Council Chairman W. Tom Sawyer said he thought the city should retain. “If they go down and ask for 120 days we’re going to get phone calls.”

On the other hand, he saw decision on the barns rentals and operations as management related that could be left to BPA.

When the discussion turned to the auditorium and civic center, Barrett said that John Bapst Memorial High School, whose basketball teams play and practice at the auditorium, in a letter expressed concern about their continued use of the auditorium. They pay for the use but at a rate that loses money for the city.

One member, Kenneth Jordan a local lawyer, summed up his views on negotiations when he said, “We ought to keep this agreement as simple as possible. I don’t want to see us get into a situation that would so hamstring them … that it would not afford them the opportunity to make money.”