Other council members are preparing more amendments that might be offered when the council takes a final vote on the baseball legislation, which Cropp said yesterday will be scheduled for Dec. 14. Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who abstained Tuesday, said yesterday she would seek more money for school construction and renovation from revenue generated by a new stadium.
In the days before Tuesday's council vote, Cropp met with Williams several times and told him she would ensure that the bill would pass if her three cost-saving amendments were adopted and if Williams would agree to reopen discussions with baseball.
Chairman Linda W. Cropp is seeking changes in the deal, but council member Jack Evans says that won't happen.
(Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)
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The council approved her amendments, including setting up a process to solicit private financing for the project and eliminating a $45 million fund for libraries that would have increased a tax on businesses.
Shortly after the council approved the legislation Tuesday, Williams said: "In the current [stadium] agreement, there's a tough compensatory damages provision that holds our feet to the fire to get the job done on time. And we ought to be held accountable for getting it done on time. At the same time, we recognize concerns with the potential magnitude of those damages. We will discuss these matters with the new team owners and with baseball."
The pact Williams signed in October specifies that a stadium along the Anacostia River near the Navy Yard and South Capitol Street must be completed by March 1, 2008. The Washington Nationals would move there from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
If the stadium is not completed, the District could be liable for significant damages, though no specific dollar amount is in the contract.
Rather, if a delay occurs, the Nationals and Major League Baseball could go to court to claim a loss in revenue. The new stadium, with its lucrative luxury boxes and other perks, could bring more revenue than RFK would generate.
If the District were found to have acted negligently in missing the stadium deadline, the damages could be unlimited. If the District were found to have made a reasonable effort to meet the deadline but still failed, a formula that limits damages would be applied by the court to determine the penalty.
"This past winter was the wettest in decades, and any new construction was delayed beyond what the expected completion date was," Cropp said. "If we have another winter like that this period, the city will have to pay penalties. I don't think the city should have to pay penalties due to no fault of our own."
Other council members expressed concern that delays in obtaining the 21 acres of land or the discovery of environmental problems at the site also could put the city at significant risk.
Joseph A. McManus Jr., a lawyer in the District who specializes in construction law, said a compensatory damages clause is fairly standard in large construction contracts. He added that the city could try to pass on such risks to the contractors who will build the stadium.
"In construction contracts, time is money," he said. "That means damages for being late."
Staff writer Thomas Heath contributed to this report.
