The Tucson Sidewinders owe Pima County $48,000 for leaving Tucson Electric Park before the end of the team's contract.
The contract between the county and SK Baseball was scheduled to end in November 2012, said Marc Natelsky, deputy county attorney. The company moved the Sidewinders triple-A baseball team to Reno, Nev., last year.
Pima County terminated the contract with SK Baseball earlier this year, but the company still owed some outstanding user fees, Natelsky said.
The settlement covers $30,000 in annual facility use fees for the last year the Sidewinders were in Tucson, plus $17,900 for parking revenues, maintenance and other fees the club would have paid the county if the contract hadn't been terminated, Natelsky said.
The company was obliged to pay the county at least $30,000 a year in user fees, depending on how much attendance the team pulled in for games. Historically, the team didn't exceed that figure because low attendance was one of the reasons it cited for moving, Natelsky said.
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While the settlement doesn't cover lost user fees for future years, Natelsky said there was a provision in the contract that if the county could make up those fees with other uses, the team was not responsible for paying. In 2009 the county did make up for the $30,000 using the sports facilities for other activities, and expects to be able to continue to do so, he said.
"Typically, we have no shortage of people who want to do things at TEP," he said.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the settlement Tuesday. Natelsky said SK Baseball agreed to the settlement. SK Baseball did not return phone calls last week or this week.
In other business, the board unanimously agreed to award a contract for the league and tournament operations of Mark Jacob Sports Park to Championship Baseball LLC.
The other half of the contract was awarded to Pinnacle Concessions for managing concessions at the county-owned park.
The sports park near West Ina Road and Interstate 10 has been closed as the county upgraded lights and sought bids from private operators.
It is unclear when the park will open for baseball, softball and volleyball team and tournament play, because the county needs to finalize the contract with the vendor, said Rafael Payan, Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Department director.
Championship Baseball could be ready to hold the first tournament as soon as Thanksgiving, said owner Lou Ciurca.
The timeline for reopening the park was delayed when concerns cropped up about the contract. The county asked for proposals to run the park and the concessions, then canceled that bid without awarding it. Officials said the financial components of the county's request needed to be modified. There was also concern about the seemingly skewed scores one evaluator gave two companies competing for the contract.
A new bid request was issued this fall.
