by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Since the Jacksonville Suns moved into the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in 2003, the team has led the Southern League in attendance. It also may have led the league in disputes with its landlord.
In the latest effort to negotiate an amendment to the current lease — an amendment which contains several provisions — the City and the Suns (which operates as Baseball Jax) have agreed to end talks and continue the status quo.
“We have a 10-year lease and we are halfway through that lease. We also have two, five-year options. So, we essentially have a 20-year lease,” said Peter Bragan Jr., owner and president of the club.
The proposed amendment contained 13 items ranging from naming rights of the field to rent to security. Bragan, through his attorney Steve Labovitz of the McKenna Long & Aldridge law firm in Atlanta, was seeking to have the field named after his father, Peter Bragan Sr. That proposal, which has been in the works for years, was denied.
“In the end we couldn’t come to reasonable terms. That happens,” said Ron Barton, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission who has been negotiating with Labovitz on behalf of the City.
Barton said naming the field after the Bragan family isn’t a matter of being unable to agree on one issue.
“There is not just one sticking point,” said Barton. “In the proposal they had for us, there were too many deal points to meet in the middle. It can’t be reduced to just money. In my experience, if you are down to one issue, you can usually come to an agreement.”
One issue that both sides insist will have to be sorted out is the cost of security at the ball park. Under the amendment, Baseball Jax would pay the City $125,000 annually for all police, fire and public safety services. The issue isn’t that cut-and-dry, however. Barton said there’s a dispute over security payments.
“In their version, we owe back bills for security,” said Bragan. “I told them, no. We never scheduled those services. I told them if we were going to put that much money in, I wanted them to change it to Bragan Field.”
That’s not likely to happen soon, and neither is much else.
In a Nov. 20 letter to Labovitz, Barton explained the City’s lack of desire to continue negotiations on the amendment and called such negotiations “unproductive.”
“As you know, we have expended a great deal of resources exploring a number of issues and seeking common ground to address them,” said Barton in the letter. “Unfortunately, after reviewing the last proposal from you, it is my opinion that there is not enough common ground to structure a lease amendment that can serve our unique but different objectives.”
Bragan said he and the City have been “going back-and-forth for over a year” regarding the amendment.
“We have gotten a response back from Ron Barton, but we are back to square one,” said Bragan.
The other issues within the amendment that may or may not be addressed again include “Jax Baseball Events vs. City Events,” the length of the lease, exclusive use areas, parking, luxury suites, concessions, City obligations regarding landscaping, assignability and audit rights.