The Lee County (Fla.) Commission will meet today and address several items relevant to Spring Training, including the "future of City of Palms Park." County officials "find themselves hard-pressed to finance renovations that would lure a team to the vacant venue," but repurposing the venue "could be a costly endeavor" as well. Commissioners also will "examine ways for disabled residents to get to ball games" (Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS, 2/5).
Commissioners last night heard that the Nationals have "scaled back their requests" from the county for a potential move to City of Palms. The team has laid out a "four-year, four-phase plan to meet their improvement needs," with an initial $15.5M phase to be completed within a year. The Nationals have rejected two county staff proposals: one that would have reduced rent to $1 a year "if the Nationals agreed to move into the stadium as is," and another in which the requested improvements would be made if the team agreed to a "30-year lease at $500,000 per year" (NAPLES DAILY NEWS, 2/5).
The Commission meeting can be viewed live here starting at 9:30am ET.
