After several stops and starts, a vote that in the end meant nothing, and enough political wrangling to choke a horse, a negotiated $31 million PGE Park renovation plan finally goes before the Portland City Council today.
The deal, tentatively agreed to by Timbers owner Merritt Paulson and Portland mayor Sam Adams on July 9th, is $6 million less than originally planned. The City Council will now have the final say, and remove the last hurdle (we hope) from the Timbers finally hitting the path that leads to a 2011 MLS debut.
You can read the resolutions and ordinances at the City of Portland website (if that's your thing). My understanding is that the vote will fast track the PGE Park improvements, and award the construction contract directly to Paulson's company Peregine, LLC, rather than have it go through the normally required competitive bid process.
The City of Portland site also has a nifty "Frequently Asked Questions" page for the stadium deal, which appears to have been written directly following the original council vote (which simply authorized the city to negotiate with Paulson). The FAQ indicates that August 1st was the target date for completed preliminary stadium designs and engineering plans; whether that date holds, with this vote coming only a week ahead of the deadline, I'm not sure.
The business item is listed under "Regular Agenda" on the council's schedule for the day after three other items with hard times, which puts the PGE Park vote after 3:00pm PDT at the earliest.
It may be a pointless endeavor, but I'm planning throwing up the live video from the council chambers here if and when we get word that the stadium deal is actually being addressed. Check back in on this post closer to those mentioned times if you're interested.
I'm a strong supporter of Portland's entry into MLS, and I'm hoping that today is finally the day that the speculation over the Timbers future comes to an end.
*UPDATE* The stadium deal "term sheet" (anyone that can explain exactly what that means, please do) has passed.
