Left In Lowell

Jenn Myers’ article in last Saturday’s Sun outlined City Manager Bernie Lynch’s “counter-proposal” to Chancellor Marty Meehan’s proposal to transfer “ownership of the Tsongas Arena to the University [Massachusetts, Lowell].”

Since it appears that the majority of City Councilors are eager to hand over the arena so that we can stop subsidizing the operation costs (currently $1 M/year) of the Arena, what Lynch has offered is a pretty good deal for the City.

1. The University pays the City $1 for the Arena (appraised at $27.4 M)

2. University pays $800,000 for the adjacent three acres of land (appraised at $2.9 M but it will cost about $2.1 M to clean up the site)

3. The city will work with the school to develop that land to generate tax revenue for the city.

4. If in three years that development is not generating real estates taxes, the school will pay taxes to the City “an amount equal to the real estate taxes owed on $5 million of commercial property.”

5. The University and the City would swap status; the City would be the one to receive “most favored tenant” classification. Currently, the University has that privilege.

6. The City would retain all revenue from City-sponsored events

7. LHS Athletics would get 110 hours at $420/hour; and 240 hours of free ice time

8. And as for that parcel of land on Pawtucket Boulevard, the City will taker off the University’s hands if they want to but do not expect anything in return.

As Myers pointed out in her article “Lynch and Meehan’s proposals are similar on the major points, but Lynch’s delves into more detail.”

I wanted the City to be a bit more patient and work things out; I know I am in the minority. I still believe that once the Devil contract is up in 2010, a lot of options open up. But I can count and it is an election year. If I am not mistaken, there are at least 5 if not 6 Councilors that would vote today to hand over the Arena to the University today.

The ball is in the Chancellor’s court. I know that the State will pay for the $5 million capital improvement for the Arena but where is the rest of the money for this transfer going to come from? Also, what are we going to do with the Devils until 2010? If they stay, the limitations remain the same and if you force them to go, aren’t you liable? Where is the money going to come from for the practice rink?

After all is said and done, the City Manager did what the majority of the City Council directed him to do: come up with a plan to transfer the Arena. Of course we still have the Debt Service of almost $2 Million but the $800,000 for the adjacent piece of land should put a serious dent on that bond.

The on-line, public comment site used by the Lowell Sun, Topix, has been ordered by a Texas judge to ‘[identify] details about 178 anonymous commenters on the site.” A Dallas couple filed a law suit asking the site to give them details about anonymous commentators so that they can be identified. The site itself was not sued.

According to Computerworld, “Topix CEO Chris Tolles said that his company had received the subpoena and was currently figuring out what exactly it needed to do. Tolles said in an e-mail. ‘We prefer to make sure requests are clear and specific and not overly broad.’

“Tolles said that Topix takes privacy issues very seriously and that his firm would not ‘simply hand over all of our records’ without a review of the demand by its lawyers and a discussion of the issue with the court.”

Although in the past courts have protected the right to post comments anonymously, they have allowed lawsuits forcing web site to help identify the commentators.

This lawsuit will be watched closely not only in the blogsphere but also by first amendment advocates.