Photograph: Members of the Opelousas Downtown Development District (ODDD) Board review documents during last Friday’s meeting. (Photograph by Freddie Herpin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
A sports consulting company is offering to assist the City of Opelousas through a private-public partnership that proposes to include funding, marketing and development for a Phase 1 sports complex project at South City Park.
The proposal from Synergy Sports Charlotte was presented to members of the Opelousas Downtown Development District for discussion during a Friday meeting.
Synergy, according to a letter obtained by St. Landry Now.com, and reviewed last week by ODD members, is requesting a special meeting with the ODD and parish economic officials within the next week.
ODD members voted during the meeting to hold the special meeting. The decision did not specify a time and date for the proposed meeting with company officials.
The appointed ODD board agreed unanimously in June to bond approximately $4.7 million generated from an extra one percent of municipal sales tax revenue in order to fund the initial phase of the project which includes baseball fields, and an outdoor track and turfed football field surrounding Donald Gardner Stadium.
In their letter to ODD, Synergy officials claim the company possesses the expertise to utilize the sports complex design concept and provide the revenue needed in order to complete the initial development phase.
According to the development plan outlined in the letter, Synergy would manage the construction and renovation plans for a fee not to exceed seven percent of the capital involved with the project.
The city, the plan indicates, would agree to a long term lease agreement with Synergy for 25-30 years. However the agreement with the company would also guarantee that the city would maintain operational control of the fields, stadium and track.
Members of the city administration were absent from the ODD meeting.
Bill Rodier, executive director of the St. Landry Economic Development District said during a post-meeting interview that the ODD would agree to make annual payments to Synergy and enter into an operational agreement with the company.
Rodier told ODDD members that the Synergy plan is something that the Board should consider, since the company has previous experience with marketing and developing similar venues.
