City officials will have to make a big decision before moving forward with the effort to build a sports complex at the former Tyler Refrigeration Company property in Niles.
Carrier Corporation — the parent company of Tyler Refrigeration and the property owner — has told the city it would pay for the construction of the sports complex, which would contain a combination of baseball and softball fields, on the Lake Street property northwest of the airport.
However, the deal might come with a stipulation, according to City Manager Ric Huff.
Huff said he received paperwork indicating that the City of Niles would have to do one of two things to move the deal forward:
• Either agree to keep the former Tyler property on the south side of Lake Street forever for public use; or
• Indemnify Carrier of any responsibility for property on the south side.
Carrier has also specified that the city could not use the south property for residential construction, even though Huff said the property meets the Michigan Department of Environment Quality’s requirements for that type of use.
Huff said there is minimal contamination on the south property, which includes a parking lot and a research and development building, that was caused by an adjacent property owner years ago.
“I think the risk is nominal,” he said.
Huff proposed that the city could hypothetically use the building for cold storage, an ice-skating rink or an indoor soccer field, among other ideas.
Huff asked the city council for guidance in pursuing the deal. He also said he isn’t 100 percent certain if the sports complex deal is tied to the south property.
Mayor Mike McCauslin advised Huff to find out if the two projects are tied together before the next meeting.
“We don’t want to lose what we’ve worked for on the north side,” the mayor said.
The city has said the complex will cost taxpayers nothing. The city’s parks and recreation department would create an entity to oversee every aspect of the sports complex, from maintenance to operation to supervision.
Upkeep of such a facility was estimated at $30,000 annually. Making the sports complex pay-for-play would cover those costs.
Tyler Refrigeration closed in 2009, leaving more than 400 people out of work. The property has remained unused since then.
In other business:
• Huff told the council the owner of National Standard Building is seeking the city’s approval to tear down the vacant National Standard structures, which span six city blocks on Wayne Street. The area would be turned into a vacant grassy lot that could be used for non-organized recreation.
• The council accepted the proposal of $25,806 for the purchase of 102 replacement street lights from American Green Technology of South Bend, Ind.
• The council accepted the bid of $45,175 from Kendall Electric of Benton Harbor for the purchase of 25 decorative street lights.
• The council accepted the bid of $248,000 from L.D. Docsa Associates of Kalamazoo to complete the ferrous chloride system replacement project for the wastewater treatment plant.
• The council adopted a resolution supporting the application for a public grant to allow Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service to conduct a feasibility study on the operation of consolidating the fire departments and EMS services within the SMCAS assessment district.