AC Update on current projects:

Atlantic City Council tabled an ordinance permitting the city to execute a ground lease agreement with Bader Field Sports LLC, which was selected earlier this year to develop a series of athletic fields on the disused airport.

Company vice-president Greg Allen said the fields could be open by the fall of 2016.

Council President Frank M. Gilliam said the legislation was postponed so the city could work out unresolved details in the lease agreement and confirm that its engineering plans adhere to environmental regulations.

Developer and Revel owner Glenn Straub, whose own bid for Bader Field was turned down, attended the meeting to call for the bill’s delay.

Straub said passage of the measure would have meant authorizing a contract before its finalization, a violation of the law, and during the public comment period, he suggested a suit could result if the legislation was approved.

He also said he wanted to present the city with alternative development plans for the property. He stridently reiterated his commitment to investing hundreds of millions of dollars around the resort, as well as his desire to re-open Revel as soon as his plans to power and heat the building are approved.

Earlier in the evening, Straub said he wants to lease Bader so he can use it as an airport, for equestrian competitions, or for motorsports, among other ideas. Under his control, the property would be guaranteed to generate $7.5 million a year in revenue for the city, Straub said, if not more.

“The decision of Council to table (the bill) had nothing to do with Mr. Straub,” Gilliam said, adding during the comment period that Straub had already threatened suit once after his first Bader bid wasn’t accepted. “Mr. Straub has no legal standing to discuss what we should be doing with Bader Field.”

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said the Bader Field Sports proposal was the best temporary use of the property, adding that the city hopes its value will increase in coming years, eventually leading to a sale that would wipe the municipality’s debt clean.

Gilliam said after the meeting that Straub should focus on either opening or selling Revel. Councilman George Tibbitt reminded the developer that the Bader Field Sports proposal is intended to be temporary, and urged him to bid on the property in the future.

During his public comment, Straub said the city doesn’t have the right to sell the property. Councilman Marty Small said was incorrect. Small asked Straub if he wanted to purchase Bader for $500 million, while Gilliam offered him a discounted price of $450 million.

First ward Councilman Aaron Randolph and sixth ward Councilman Timothy Mancuso spoke with Straub during a break in the session, and said they will meet with him on Monday to discuss Revel.

In other business, the council approved a $26,000 contract with Mott Associates, LLC for engineering work connected to planned changes to Brown’s Park. Officials say the city intends to install new playground equipment, sidewalks, and seating areas at the park, among other changes. Planning director Elizabeth Terenik said that once it begins, the work will take approximately eight months to complete.

A resolution was passed paving the way for greater involvement by Stockton University in the city’s recreation program.

Merydawilda Colón, executive director of the Stockton Center for Community Engagement, said the school wants to send four students to The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex two days a week to provide strength, conditioning, and basketball training.

Colón also said that Emari DiGiorgio, a faculty fellow, will teach a month poetry class, with the goal of eventually bringing student participants together for a reading at Dante Hall.

Michael Bailey, who directs the city’s recreation programming, offered his full support for the programs. Stockton will not charge the city for its work, he said.

Council authorized $350,000 for recovery efforts and to replace the roof at Fire Station #1 following recent storm damage, as well as $33,500 to be paid to Maser Consulting for engineering work connected to that job.

Council passed an ordinance permitting bike riding on the Boardwalk from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. from May 15 through Sept. 15. During the rest of the year, the ordinance permits riding on the Boardwalk at all times except between noon and 4 p.m.