Editors Note: The idea of a Sports Complex is not new or recently invented. A committee established many years ago to study building ball fields in Upper Cleveland County even got so far as 40 Acres of land in Polkville were donated to the County for the project before the lack of action by the Commissioners killed the project-but did not return the land to Polkville. The County rents the land out for farming and gives the proceeds ($2,500) to the secret Economic Development crowd.
The present City of Shelby’s 10-year Master Plan calls for a Sports Complex and a partnership with a private business to operate, but such plans have languished for almost 10 years.
Now, Mr. Willie Green has proposed to the City of Shelby and to the Cleveland County Commissioners, at their Meeting on February 6, 2018, a solid and impressive plan for a very well thought out and planned Sports Complex in Shelby to be located between Holly Oak Park and the Shelby High School Baseball Field. Mr. Green purchased this land with his own money. In addition to training the local and surrounding counties student-athletes in private and group training, the proposed sports complex would also be made available to all four County High Schools sports programs for their practices at designated times and to the general public, depending on the final partnership agreement between himself and the County. Scroll on back to my article published Feb 8, 2018 for more details. At this February 6th Commissioner’s meeting Mr. Green did not specify any particular form of agreement or contract as that would be developed during negotiations after the Commissioners performed their own due diligence.
What Mr. Green did say was that he would be totally transparent and make all documents, financial and contractual and all other records relating to the partnership available to the public. Mr. Green offered no kickbacks or under the table payoffs to the Commissioners, their families or “friends” or anybody else. And, since Mr. Green’s proposal on February 6, 2018, there have been various rumors, statements, false allegations and slanderous personal attacks floating around Cleveland that Willie Green is trying to basically “screw” the county out of a bunch of money and abscond with the funds. All this is a character assassination attempt to kill public opinion on the project without providing facts. All done through the back door-old time Cleveland County style dirty politics. Mr. Green has heard these allegations, as well as myself, in various forms and from various people.
So, Mr. Green and myself had a very detailed and comprehensive conversation regarding how this sport complex idea came about, what is offered, what will be gained by the county and who would pay for the project. Hang on folks, you are about to hear (read) something you have never heard before and may never hear again in the potential business arrangements between a private person and the Cleveland County Commissioners.
Read on:
