Terminal Station management out for bids [The Macon Telegraph, Ga.]

Dec. 29--For now, an arm of NewTown Macon is still managing the city's Terminal Station, but as of March 31, some City Council members' push for a new operator should meet with success.

UDC Realty, an arm of NewTown Macon, has managed Terminal Station under a city contract. UDC's role includes maintaining and marketing the building, and collecting rent from tenants, many of which are city offices.

One-year extensions of two such leases, for the Macon-Bibb County Office of Workforce Development and the city Economic & Community Development Department, came up in a council Public Properties Committee this week. Both passed, headed for full council consideration next month. But again the question came up as to who should run the entire building.

UDC's contract ran out May 31, but the agency has continued in place on a month-to-month basis at Mayor Robert Reichert's request. A resolution sponsored by Council President James Timley for the city to take over direct operation of Terminal Station passed the council in September, but Reichert vetoed it, and Timley couldn't muster the necessary 10 votes to override the veto.

Reichert asked for time to put the job out for bids to see if anyone else could do it cheaper or more efficiently than UDC or the city itself.

That bid process is under way, and when it's finished NewTown and UDC will be out of the picture, NewTown CEO Mike Ford said Wednesday.

"NewTown has notified the city that it is not interested in renewing that contract," Ford said. "We did not respond to the public bid request."

The month-to-month management will end March 31, he said.

Councilman Rick Hutto, chairman of the council's Public Properties Committee and also a member of the oversight committee for Terminal Station, said he expects a new management recommendation to come before the council in late January.

New Centreplex signs

The Macon Coliseum and attached convention center are getting an eye-catching new sign along Interstate 16 and a new set of scoreboards inside the Coliseum.

A resolution sponsored by the mayor's office is headed for council approval after endorsement by Public Properties, giving Coca-Cola Refreshments USA exclusive advertising and sales rights in the Coliseum in exchange for new scoreboards; and sign company Mahalo of Gainesville is installing a new marquee-style digital sign outside.

Reichert said the deal for a "giant TV"-style sign along the interstate has been in the works for two years.

The deal with the Coke bottler will buy a new four-sided digital scoreboard, a smaller scoreboard at each end of the court, and two shot clocks, all centrally controlled, said Centreplex General Manager David McCartney.

"Both of these are wonderful upgrades that are being provided by these vendors in partnership with the city," he said.

The highway sign will come at no cost to the city, McCartney said. The Centreplex logo will be displayed on the top portion, with a billboard-sized digital display for upcoming events and other ads below that. And along the bottom, ads will be controlled by the sign company, he said. It will probably be in place by the end of January, McCartney said.

The deal with Coke for "pouring rights" runs for one year but will automatically renew until 2018 unless either side gives written notice, according to the contract.

The bottler will pay up to $50,000 to buy, install and maintain the scoreboards, which would become city property after 2018. If the deal ends early, the city can buy them for $7,143 for each year remaining before then, the contract says.

As part of the deal, the bottler will contribute $5,000 a year for "mutually beneficial promotions and sponsorships" at the Coliseum, up to $1,000 of Coke products each year for sale or as promotions; and an annual rebate of $2 per case on bottles and cans sold in the arena, the contract says.

The committee approved the Coke deal after a long discussion of who would be responsible for repairs if the scoreboard broke almost immediately. The city is required to buy property insurance on the scoreboard, while Centreplex manager Noble Investment Group must buy $2 million in liability insurance, Assistant City Attorney Tena Helms said.

"The intent is that the insurance would cover the cost of the scoreboard," she said.

Hutto stressed that those insurance purchases should be made before the scoreboard is actually installed. The scoreboards may be up by the end of February, McCartney said.

To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.

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