LAWTON — The Lawton Youth Sports Authority is interested in starting negotiations with the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes over building the city’s youth sports complex on tribal trust land.
The authority recently voted to reconsider and reject the Kiowa Comanche Apache Intertribal Land Use Committee’s March 2 letter of intent concerning the KCA site, located north of Elmer Thomas Park at Cache Road and Interstate 44. Instead, the authority voted to approve its own letter of intent to the KCA Intertribal Land Use Committee.
The authority’s letter signals that the board wants to sit down with tribal officials and iron out the details of leasing the KCA property before making a formal commitment.
The KCA has proposed leasing its property north of Elmer Thomas Park to the authority for 55 years at the rate of $1 per year. The authority would have the option of renewing the lease for a second term.
State and local governments cannot collect property, sales or other taxes on federal trust land. However, the KCA said it would allow the authority to collect sales taxes from the sports complex for five years and use the proceeds to fund the complex’s operation and expansion.
The KCA also proposed using arbitration to resolve any disputes between the authority and the tribe.
The city’s legal staff was concerned about some of the language in the tribe’s letter, including the provision calling for arbitration, said Interim City Attorney Tim Wilson.
“I think the intent in the KCA’s mind would be if there were any issues that arose during the term of this lease, it would go to arbitration and not necessarily to any court,” he said. “And so, that was a flag in my mind that ‘no, we needed to look at this.’”
Wilson said the March 2 letter would have tied the authority’s hands in negotiations over leasing the KCA property. Consequently, he recommended rejecting that letter and approving a simple letter of intent from the authority instead.
The authority’s March 16 letter of intent is a nonbinding document confirming that both parties are interested in negotiating a lease for the KCA site, according to the letter. Topics for discussion include but are not limited to:
• Terms of the lease.
• Collection and enforcement of sales tax.
• A waiver of sovereign immunity.
• The jurisdictional response for emergency services.
• Naming rights.
The authority’s letter clarifies that the board is interested in discussing those topics with KCA officials, said YSA Chairman Brian Henry.
“I think the best way to put it is to simplify the letter of intent,” he said. “To put some items in there that we’d like to put on the table to discuss, but make it a little more clear that that language is not binding and really open up negotiations. Which is what we want to have happen.”
Henry said he recently received an amended letter of intent from the KCA, which was more in line with what the authority had in mind. However, he said he was still concerned about some of the language in the new proposal.
“It’s a lot closer, but it still has some of the same concerns,” he said.
Wilson said the authority’s nonbinding letter of intent is simpler than the KCA’s original proposal. He said the authority’s letter indicates the panel is willing to discuss a variety of issues with the tribes, including the feasibility of entering into a lease agreement and the terms of that agreement.
“It can be canceled at any time by either party, and I think it gets us going in the right direction,” Wilson said. “Let’s let the negotiators figure out the fine details later on.”
The Grandview site
In the meantime, the authority is also exploring the possibility of building the youth sports complex on school trust land adjacent to the Grandview Sports Complex on SW 52nd Street. The Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office owns and manages school trust land, including the Grandview site, to generate revenue for public schools and universities.
The agency’s director of marketing for real estate recently asked the authority to submit a nonbinding application for leasing the Grandview site, Henry said. He added that the agency is currently reviewing the application.
“She (the marketing director) said she has floated it through the building, and nobody has any objections to the use of that area,” Henry said. “There’s still one commissioner she hasn’t heard from yet.”
Henry said the agency will provide a cost estimate for appraising the Grandview site.
The CLO leases properties to entities based on the land’s fair market value. The agency orders an appraisal to determine the fair market value, but the applicant – in this cases, the authority – covers the cost of the appraisal.