COBB COUNTY - County Commissioners unanimously approved a first step in the possible development of a $72 million sports complex in southwest Cobb on Tuesday, a complex that Commissioner Tim Lee called a "public-private partnership" as it would be managed by five local businessmen, but funded through county-issued bonds.

In a complicated arrangement, the commissioners gave the Development Authority of Cobb County permission to spend up to $450,000 on a feasibility study for the park. Dream Parks Management, LLC, the owner-operator company consisting of five Cobb residents from various backgrounds, would also pay up to $450,000 toward that study.

But Commissioner Bob Ott said the item was approved with the stipulation that Dream Parks first fund a financial feasibility study by a firm to be chosen and approved by the board of commissioners. Earl Ehrhart, one of the owners of Dream Parks, estimated the financial study would cost $65,000 to $80,000.

If the financial feasibility study, as well as the overall study, which would include engineering and environmental analyses, showed positive results, then the commissioners would be asked to approve $72 million worth of bonds to pay for the project, Ott and Ehrhart said. The little-known Recreation Authority of Cobb County, whose members are the county commissioners, would actually issue the Recovery Zone Facility bonds, or federal stimulus bonds.

Ehrhart said the bonds would be paid off over the course of 30 years at $5.05 million a year through revenues generated by the complex and would be backed by the good faith and credit of the county; therefore, if the complex went under and did not generate enough revenue to pay off the bonds, the money would have to be paid off through taxpayer money from the county's general fund.

But Ehrhart, a former Facility Group executive and Powder Springs representative, insisted there is "absolutely no way that's going to happen."

The other members of the management firm are Skip Chesshire, the retired administrator of Cobb Superior Court; Mark Johnson, former house counsel to developer John Williams; Ned Yost, a former coach of the Atlanta Braves under Bobby Cox; and Tony Carlson, an east Cobb architect.

"The county needs to have a very active role in this process, because we shouldn't be on the hook if it turns out this is not going to work," Ott said. "Taking things step by step gives the public a chance to see the numbers that the authority will look at, and at the same time, neither us nor the authority will have spent any money if it turns out it's not feasible. We just want to make absolutely certain that there is no way the county will have to pay for this in the future before we vote on it."

Ehrhart said his group has been in talks with various companies and sports leagues interested in using the 372-acre sports complex, to be built in southwest Cobb with a portion inside the city of Powder Springs, for several months. The complex would feature 16 baseball fields as well as fields for soccer and lacrosse, plus retail space, Ehrhart said.

Ott said the board's choice of firm would be done in an effort to keep the study objective. Commissioners would also hear the financial report once it is finished and before it goes before the Development Authority, he said.

Ehrhart said Dream Parks would suggest a firm to the county, but that he agreed the board of commissioners should choose the firm so that all results are deemed credible.

"A lot still needs to be worked out, and we're not even sure yet who the county staff contact will be, but we want to make sure that the study is done fairly and objectively, and I expect and hope that the county would choose the firm," Ehrhart said.

Ehrhart said his business group is asking for the county's help in raising the money because private loans are unlikely in this economy.

"The whole idea is a public-private partnership and the county stands to gain a great deal of revenue from the complex. Plus, there just isn't private money out there right now to fund this," Ehrhart said. The complex could host high school baseball tournaments, college baseball games, provide hotel space for visitors, training facilities, retail outfits including restaurants and sports memorabilia stores, soccer and lacrosse leagues and teams, and could also be used by the Cobb County Recreation League, Ehrhart said.

Yost said Bobby Cox has also shown some interest in becoming involved with the complex, should it be built.

"The whole idea when it began three years ago was to be a 'stay and play,' where people could come with their families, stay a week, and never have to leave the premises. This could make Cobb a real destination for youth sports, which there will always be a market for," Yost said.

Its main function will be to house the headquarters and most of the east coast tournaments for Perfect Game, USA, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based high school baseball tournament league, Ehrhart said. According to the agenda item approved Tuesday, bonds would not be issued unless Perfect Game agreed to host the majority or all of its tournaments at the complex for the terms of the bonds. But Ehrhart said Perfect Game is committed to the agreement, if approved by the board of commissioners.

Yost said Perfect Game has 88,000 players in its system and Ehrhart said because college and Major League scouts, parents, and players all travel to the company's tournaments, mainly in the summer, approximately 1.9 million visitors could come to the complex.

"Perfect Game is the number-one user of hotel rooms in Cobb County, bar none," Ehrhart said. "They use up over 26,000 hotel rooms in Cobb a year and have a $26 million annual economic impact on the county. Osceola County in Florida has offered to build a $50 million complex down there, and if they do, all of their tournaments held in Cobb are going to go to Florida. So it's not a matter of build it and they'll come, it's a matter of build it or they'll leave. And we can't afford that."

Members of the Development Authority are state Rep. Don Wix; Waste Management Communications Manager and District 3 Commissioner candidate JoAnn Birrell; Journal associate editor Bill Kinney; Marietta accountant Bob Morgan; Robert Pruitt of Atlanta; Vinings Bank executive Clark Hungerford; and Bank of North Georgia Senior Vice President Libby Pitner.