Because some members of Bridgeport City Council felt that a sufficient paper trail had not been completed, plans to authorize Mayor Bob Greer to execute documents associated with a trio of major city projects was put on hold Monday night.

 

Now, Council and other entities are taking the proper steps to put that documentation in place.

 

For the past 10 months, Council, the Harrison County Commission and Genesis Partners – the developers of Charles Pointe - have been tweaking a Memorandum of Understanding as to responsibilities of parties involved concerning the transfer of 27 acres of Charles Pointe Property.

 

The basic obligation laid out in the MOU, Greer said, is that once the city takes possession of the property, it must be developed – within a three- to five-year time period - into a convention center, Greater Convention and Visitors Bureau complex and an indoor health and wellness center/senior center.

 

He explained that the MOU allows the various public entities and the developer to reach a tentative agreement in a relatively short period of time with a number of contingencies to occur before it can be ultimately be effectuated in the form of a deed to transfer the properties.

 

“So the MOU was laid out with what is everybody’s best guess was at that time - how the transaction was going to play out and now we’re at a stage where there has to be more definitive agreements,” he said. “All documents have to be finalized and with major commercial transactions with as many moving parts as this one has, there are a lot of documents to be signed.”

 

Some of those documents deal with the authorization of an individual to ultimately act on behalf of one of the parties involved.

 

On Monday, the Greater Bridgeport Convention and Visitors Bureau met for that purpose, authorizing President Drew Pomeroy to execute documentation on the party’s behalf.

 

“The CVB had a more definitive agreement – at least a pretty good draft of it – to review,” Greer said.

 

At Monday night’s Bridgeport City Council meeting, councilors expressed concern that the MOU leaves some loose ends that need to be cleaned up before Greer is granted authority to execute agreements on behalf of the city.

 

Greer explained that most of the gray areas in the MOU had very little to do with the city’s obligations.

 

“The County Commission and the EODD – an economic development arm called for under the TIF – and the developer has to go through the process of being able to get those properties in a position where they could transfer them – delivering a clear title to the city.”

 

There’s not much time to spare as a preliminary closing is scheduled for May 20, at which time the property transfer will be funded through a potentially $8 million bond sale.

 

At the May 11 meeting, Council members requested that City Attorney Dean Ramsey provide a draft of associated agreements to them this Friday so they can be reviewed and Greer be granted authority to execute at a Council meeting slated for Monday, May 18.

 

Once the property is obtained, financing has to be arranged for construction of the facilities. Once that point is reached, involvement of the Bridgeport Building Commission will come into play which is why that entity is yet another party to the transfer agreements.

 

Also at Monday night’s meeting, Council was slated to consider the appointment of Vincent Cava to the Building Commission, joining new appointees Walter Barth and Jo Ellen Crowley.

 

A CPA with Cava & Banko, Cava subsequently withdrew from that proposed position. 

 

On Tuesday, May 19, the Bridgeport Building Commission is scheduled to meet for the purpose of appointing a chairperson and consideration of a resolution authorizing the body's chairperson to execute documents pursuant to the MOUs described above. 

 

Editor's Note: Pictured from top are Greer, Pomeroy and Barth (a member of Bridgeport Building Commission).