Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Redevelopment Bader Field topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves $500,000 escrow for Bader Field developer; members seek access to technical studies
Summary
Atlantic City Council voted unanimously to require Deem Enterprises LLC to place $500,000 in escrow to cover city professional costs connected to proposed activity at Bader Field. Several council members pressed the administration for more public access to technical reports, including a sound study.
Atlantic City Council on March 19 approved an escrow agreement that requires Deem Enterprises LLC to deposit $500,000 to cover the city’s professional costs related to proposed work at Bader Field.
Councilwoman Laca said she pulled the item for discussion before the roll call. The Business Administrator explained that the escrow will be used to pay outside engineering, legal and other professional bills incurred while the city reviews the developer’s proposals and that the developer must replenish the account as funds are drawn.
The measure mattered to council members because it shifts certain review costs to the developer and because residents have raised concerns about potential neighborhood impacts, including noise. “We’re setting up an escrow account where we’re requiring Deem to deposit $500,000,” the Business Administrator said during the discussion. “So that would cause the city to incur costs from a professional standpoint…Absent an escrow account, the taxpayers will be paying.”
Councilman Jesse O. Kurtz asked that deliverables produced under the escrow — specifically the sound study commissioned earlier — be shared with council and the public. “I was actually asked about that a couple weeks ago by a constituent. We really should be cc’d on any deliverable,” Kurtz said. He asked the administration to provide a copy of the sound report to council members and to neighbors who have asked about it.
Several council members pressed for greater transparency about technical work and timelines. Councilman Kaleem Shabazz emphasized the council’s role in redevelopment decisions and said the body should lead redevelopment policy and review. Other council members asked that any reports tied to the escrow be provided to the neighborhood in advance of final actions.
The resolution passed by vote; the clerk recorded nine affirmative votes and no recorded opposition.
The escrow establishes a financing mechanism to ensure that the city is not billed for outside professional work when evaluating proposals for Bader Field. The administration noted other review topics tied to the site — including potential Green Acres constraints and environmental/soil issues — that will require outside expertise.
Council members said they expect the developer to brief neighbors directly and to make technical reports available as the project advances. The Business Administrator agreed to require certain deliverables and indicated the administration would build report-sharing into the city’s review process.
The council moved into executive session after final business; no additional action on Bader Field was taken that evening.
