Worcester City Councilors voiced their concerns at Tuesday’s council meeting on the City Manager’s proposed Worcester Ballpark Authority.

The five-member group appointed by the City Manager would oversee the operations of Polar Park.

City Manager Ed Augustus said the creation of the Authority will allow the public to have input into the stadium and the development surrounding it.

The Authority’s duties would include monitoring finances, issuing permits or licenses for the use of the ballpark and developing rules and regulations for the use and operation of the ballpark and parking garage.

City Councilor George Russell says some councilors feel those duties should be handled by people who are elected to office.

Russell said, “It’s being called an authority. It’s not being called an advisory committee or board or commission. It's being called an authority. That gives the impression at least that they're in charge and the authority and that is my basic first concern looking at it for the first time. I think the people making the decisions are the people that get elected and the [City Manager] we elect to take care of those operations."

Russell says he would have no problem with the creation of an advisory board or committee who will be involved in the process and act as a liaison to the community. 

The City Council referred the City Manager’s recommendation to its Economic Development Committee for a public hearing. 

The City Council referred the City Manager’s recommendation to its Economic Development Committee for a public hearing. The hearing needs to be held within 30 days and the committee must present a report within ten days of the hearing to the City Council to accept or reject the proposed ordinance. 

If the City Council takes no action within 90 days, the ordinance will automatically be adopted.

Image courtesy: Worcester Red Sox/Twitter