The Collier County (Fla.) Board of Commissioners yesterday "unanimously rejected further negotiations" with the Braves about building a Spring Training ballpark in the Naples area, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Commissioners voted 5-0 to "discontinue talks with the Braves, who are seeking public funds" for a new venue for '19 and beyond. A feasibility study by the county, which had been in "discussions with the Braves for about six months," suggested the project would cost as much as $101M and would be "funded largely with taxpayer dollars." Braves Vice Chair John Schuerholz said, "We learned there was not the positive momentum that you need to have a project like that go forward." Tucker notes seven members of the public yesterday expressed "firm opposition to using taxpayer money." Commissioners "shared that concern, with several saying during the meeting ... that money should go toward beach restoration or roads" instead of a ballpark. They also "questioned the value the county would get from the project, considering that spring training falls during an already busy tourist season." Tucker notes the Braves have been searching for a new Spring Training home "for more than two years." Schuerholz said that the team "continues to have discussions with a development in the Sarasota County city of North Port." Schuerholz said the Braves are also “continuing to talk to Palm Beach County” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 12/14). In Naples, Greg Stanley in a front-page piece notes on top of construction costs, the county estimated it would take about $2.5M a year to "pay for upkeep and capital needs for the complex after it was built." That would be in addition to the $7.5M a year the county would "spend paying down the debt to build" the ballpark (NAPLES DAILY NEWS, 12/14).
