Although Cobb County’s government doesn’t have the money to start paying the bills yet, invoices from the construction of the new Atlanta Braves stadium have started flowing in.
Right now, the Braves are covering all of the costs at the site because the Georgia Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal of the county’s plan to issue up to $397 million in bonds to help fund stadium construction until February.
But the county, and its project manager Heery International, are signing off on invoices in anticipation of the county providing $368 million toward the project. The rest of the money borrowed by the county will cover issuance costs and the first year of interest on the debt.
So far, about $3 million worth of invoices have been approved by the county through the end of September, which are the most current records available, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under Georgia’s Open Records Act.
Those invoices are for:
- $2.7 million, to construction manager American Builders for site work — things such as erosion control, excavation, and hauling away dirt and debris.
- $250,000, to American Builders for schematic design.
- $36,630, to two Heery International employees.
Jim Pehrson, the county’s finance director, said up to $20 million a month will be spent at the stadium site when the project hits full stride. He said the invoices are reviewed by the Braves and their representatives, Heery, then sent on to County Manager David Hankerson, who signs off on the payment before Pehrson’s office reviews the invoices.
Pehrson said the current process is the same that will be used once the bonds have been issued and the public money is in a trust fund. He said the county’s checks-and-balances system is robust.
“A dollar is a dollar is a dollar,” Pehrson said. “We have the controls in place — we have (technology) in place to do proper accounting; we have boots on the ground with our project manager … people representing us with expertise that we don’t normally have; the flow of funds is going through an escrow agent.
“The only thing that’s different right now is we have an interim period of time for the receipt of bond funds. We’ve made the adjustment, and the Braves are stepping up to cover the costs up front.”
The invoices submitted thus far do not include the estimated $11 million job of moving three underground pipelines that crossed through the heart of the stadium site. That work was completed earlier this month.
While the pipeline work is considered part of the $622 million stadium project budget, the Braves contracted directly with the utility companies to have the work done and have not submitted those invoices to the county, according to Steve McCullers, director of the county’s water department.
The county’s water department is involved in the stadium payment process because it has experience accounting for large infrastructure projects, Pehrson said.
It is unclear whether the Braves will submit the pipeline costs to the county for payment, and team spokeswoman Beth Marshall did not answer that question earlier this week. The Braves have agreed to cover $230 million of the construction costs, while the county will use the team’s annual $6.1 million rent payments to fund a portion of the public’s debt service.
The pipeline costs are tricky because moving the utilities benefits both the baseball stadium and the private mixed-use facility the Braves plan to build on the site. Public money can’t be used to benefit the private development.
The challenges to the county’s stadium financing plan also moved forward last week, with all three people challenging the bond validation submitting briefs to the Georgia Supreme Court. The county now has 20 days to respond.
Attorney Tucker Hobgood wrote in his brief that the county’s bond plan violates both state law and the Georgia Constitution. The Supreme Court will hear the appeal in February. Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on the briefs.
About the Author
