Mayor Signs Veto to Halt Letter of Intent for Milbank Baseball Complex

At the regular meeting of the Milbank City Council on Monday, March 8, the council voted to approve signing a Letter of Intent (LOI) on behalf of the Milbank Ball Diamond Association (MBDA) to authorize the generation of a report from Mammoth Sports.  Mammoth Sports required the LOI to generate a report outlining the actual costs of building the new American Legion Baseball complex in Milbank. 

Subsequent to the council meeting, Mayor Pat Raffety vetoed the approval. His statement and reasons to the Milbank City Council members notifying them of his decision are reproduced here in full:

To: Milbank City Council

From: Mayor Pat Raffety

Re: Council action on Letter of Intent with Mammoth Sports

Council Members,

Consider this notice of my veto on the Council action taken at the Monday, February 8^th meeting concerning the Council’s decision to authorize the signing of the LOI agreement with Mammoth Sports on behalf of the Milbank Ball Diamond Association.

My objections;

1. The entering into this contract gives the appearance that this is a City of Milbank project. From the very beginning it has been a Milbank Ball Diamond Association project.  It is the duty of the City to offer areas of recreation such as a baseball field, however to the extent of a                         $ 1,000,000.00 to $7,000,000.00 field is deemed excessive.
2. Concern of the long term support of the facility. The City can be promised that the venue will host many events, however, this is uncertain, and if this does not materialize there will be a financial burden placed on the taxpayers of the City.
3. Future support of the facility by the local community. With no local fundraising taking place up to this point how can there be a guaranteed local buy in for the success of the project. Given the size/potential size of the project there is a need for out of area support. If all money is raised from out of area, it will be difficult to garner long term local support for a facility that they were not involved in from the beginning.
4. Timeframe. While continuing to attempt to raise funds for the desired complex, what will happen when the Letter of Intent is fulfilled? Will the City then be required to finance the next step to execute the plan?  Given the goal of 2025 for a completion, there is the potential to not be any further than we are at this time. There is not money in the budget at this time for any Council action, and if the window is missed this year and not budgeted until 2022 for a 2023 expenditure the likely of completion in an acceptable manner is greatly reduced.

Respectfully,

Pat Raffety

Mayor

City of Milbank