The “exact conditions of the lease between Nassau County and the operator of a new Coliseum for the Islanders won’t be final before the Aug. 1 referendum” on a $400M bond issue to build the arena and a new ballpark, according to Ted Phillips of NEWSDAY. The document detailing the financial basis for the deal “is incomplete because, in part, officials had just a few weeks to work it out in the lead-up to the referendum.” While Nassau County Exec Edward Mangano and the Islanders have said that the “terms of the lease are essentially complete, they acknowledge that key elements are still being worked out in separate agreements.” A sublease between the Islanders and the Coliseum operator, a company created by team owner Charles Wang, is “still under negotiation,” as are the details of how the sublease “would guarantee revenue to the county.” Additional key elements for negotiations include a “nonrelocation agreement that would keep the Islanders at the arena for 30 years even if Wang sells the team,” and details of “how revenue generated by non-hockey events would be shared with the county.” But both sides said that “the basic terms of the lease, including rental payments, have been agreed upon.” Islanders Senior VP Michael Picker said that the lease “as now written was 99 percent complete and the language was being clarified.” Members of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority have “voiced doubts about the viability of the redevelopment plan.” Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt said that the public “will essentially be voting on a ‘conceptual’ idea rather than the specifics of building a new Coliseum or the terms of the lease itself.” Schmitt added that if the referendum passes, “changes to the lease will be considered, and the legislature will hold a public hearing before deciding whether to approve it” (NEWSDAY, 7/17)
