El Paso Council Derails Bid to Block City Hall Demolition

El Paso City Council last week narrowly defeated, by 5-3, a plan to include on the May 2013 municipal election ballot a proposal to stop the demolition of El Paso City Hall to make way for a bond-financed minor league baseball stadium.

City Clerk Richarda Momsen has certified a petition seeking to stop the razing of City Hall. It would repeal the council’s vote in June to build the stadium on the downtown site.

The election is set for May 11, but the construction timetable calls for the structure to be demolished by March 31.

To make the ballot, the proposal must be accepted by the council no later than March 1.

Stadium opponents submitted petitions with valid signatures from 1,635 registered voters, more than the required 1,548 signatures.

A hearing on a permanent injunction seeking a halt to the project is set for early January.

The council agreed in June to build a $50 million, 9,000-seat baseball stadium with bonds supported by a proposed increase in the city’s hotel tax. Voters approved the tax increase in November.

The financial plan for the stadium includes $15 million of tax-exempt debt and $35 million of taxable debt.

In September the city signed a long-term stadium lease agreement with MorningStar Sports Group.

El Paso’s credit is rated AA by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, and Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service.

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