Cobb County's commissioners will vote Tuesday — a month before the Braves' first pitch at SunTrust Park — on an agreement that could end a $14 million dispute over infrastructure improvements around the new stadium.
As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in January, the Braves' front office has argued that county taxpayers still owe the money for roads, walkways, traffic signals and message boards in and around the stadium and The Battery Atlanta.
County officials have disputed the charges. In December, Cobb’s transportation chief wrote in a memo that the county had already satisfied those requirements considering it has spent more than $69 million on road improvements around the new ballpark.
This back-and-forth dates back to some of the earliest contracts made between the county and the team in 2013 and 2014.
Those deals required the county spend $14 million of public money on transportation improvements but didn't spell out what exact projects are supposed to be covered by the money.
Commissioners met in a closed-door session Monday to review the deal between the county and the team.
Chairman Mike Boyce didn’t say Monday what projects are up for county funding or how much more taxpayers would have to pay if the proposed agreement is approved.
Those details are likely coming during a public meeting Tuesday.
“If the board saw that (project) list and didn’t like what they saw, it wouldn’t be an agenda item tomorrow,” he said Monday when asked about the vote.
It is also unclear how the county would pay for the extra improvements — whether from special purpose sales tax revenues, the county’s general fund or elsewhere.
The Cobb Commission meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday in the county government building in Marietta.
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