The hunt for an Olympic Village location in L.A. is down to "less than a handful" of sites, including the controversial Piggyback Yard proposal, L.A. 2024 CEO Gene Sykes said yesterday. He added that those finalists were selected from two dozen potential locations. A decision on where planners hope to build housing for 17,000 athletes will come in a "reasonably short period of time," Sykes said during a conference call after a meeting with the USOC board. City officials have called the existing proposal to build at Piggyback Yard, an active rail yard operated by Union Pacific, to be apparently unworkable and much more expensive than the preliminary $1B price tag Olympic bid officials have given (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer). Meanwhile, in California, Scott Reid notes a special L.A. City Council committee on the '24 bid has "signed off on a memorandum of understanding between the city and the local organizing committee that would give the council a major voice" in the planning of a third L.A. Olympics. The agreement "still needs to be approved by the full city council." City officials said that the council is "expected to consider the MOU early next month" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/16).
