Sounds: Oh yes we did

Sounds fire back at Metro's default letter, saying the team made every effort to perform on the memorandum of understanding and promising more detail later to make its case

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

Glenn Yaeger, the Nashville Sounds' general manager and chief operating officer, has fired back at Metro for holding the team in default, strongly disputing the city's reasons for why the team failed to perform.

Yaeger didn't specifically reference Metro's assertion yesterday that the team didn't pay its architect HOK, a failing that resulted in HOK's stopping work on construction plans, Metro asserts, and thus gave Metro a reason for holding the team in default. In a letter sent late Thursday to Sue Cain, Metro Legal's acting director, Yaeger simply disagreed with the "allegations concerning the relationship with our professionals" she had made in her default letter to the team one day earlier.

"The Sounds spent or accrued over $1.5 million for work actually done on this project," Yaeger wrote. (A copy of his letter is available at this link). "The Sounds are the biggest losers if this project fails. We absolutely deny that we have in any way defaulted on our obligations.... It is unfair and unjust to hold us responsible for the default under the MOU."

Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, the Sounds' development partner, noted earlier this week it had spent more than $2 million on creating plans for its $200 million development that would have gone around the new ballpark.

The team has until April 15 to remedy the default. But that prospect isn't seen as likely. After April 15, the deal officially falls apart and the Sounds and Struever Bros. split. Mayor Bill Purcell has said the property would be handed over for the Riverfront Redevelopment Plan, which is being done by Metro Parks and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Yaeger has said the team would come up with a new plan after the deadline with a developer other than Struever Bros. The developer sent a release out today reconfirming its commitment to the riverfront site after the April 15 deadline and saying it would submit a new plan for the site.

In his letter, Yaeger went into specifics on other points issues related to its bank loans, leases and other items to counter Metro's reasons for default. This letter, however, is just the first salvo. Yaeger wrote that another letter would follow and provide greater detail, specifically on the amount of money the Sounds have spent and specific dates and times of actions the team has taken to meet the MOU obligations.