Mayor Steele held a press conference on April 22, 2026, to update the public on the status of the Good Life District negotiations with Woodsonia, clarify misconceptions, and outline the city's plans moving forward. The mayor emphasized the city's commitment to building the sports complex and aquatic center, and proposed conducting all future negotiations in open city council meetings for transparency. Key discussions centered on Woodsonia's land offers, funding sources, project timeline, and community concerns.
Yes. Good morning. I am here today to discuss the status of the good life district negotiations and to clear up some misconceptions so we can ensure factually accurate information is available for the people of Grand Island. Almost three years ago I received a phone call from Drew Snyder from Woodsonia. Mr. Snyder asked about the veterans property that is owned by the city. So I repeated three times. From time to time, Woodsonia would renew its request that the city gift it the land, or that the city give Woodson the money to buy the land. That request was always refused for the reason I stated earlier. Last fall, I asked for Woodsonia's best and final offer, which they delivered to the city council. I wanted their best and final offer because negotiations were wasting time. As recently as December, I thought we were making progress with negotiations, but we soon discovered that their best and final offer was neither their best or final. After December, our attorneys handling the negotiations told us that the negotiations were going backward. Woodsonia says we stopped negotiating with them in February. In actuality, we were actively negotiating with Woodsonia in March. Woodsonia's attorney admitted the impasse in negotiations, and he advised that his clients wished to cease negotiations, and they intended to give the city another written best and final proposal to consider. We received that proposal on March 5. In Woodsonia's March 5 offer for approximately one hundred fifty acres of land owned by the city. Woodsonia offered one dollar as their final and best offer. An offer of one dollar for the city's land is ridiculous. And we did not have authority to accept their latest best and final offer. So the city is moving forward to build the city infrastructure, including the dirt work, the sports complex, and the aquatic center. To keep moving forward, the city requested request for proposals so that we can hire experts to assist us in the development of the sports complex and aquatic center and to enlist engineering services for key infrastructure, such as road design and mass grading. During the March 25 meeting, we told Woodsonia that the request for proposals would be issued, and as a result, the ethics rules regarding public bidding applied, and the city would not take any action that would give an unfair advantage to any bidder. The response deadline for the request for proposals is May 6. After the March 25 meeting, Woodsonia replace their March 5 and final offer with yet another new proposal, which they asked to present directly to the City Council. The new proposal is dated April 5. Woodsonia's latest proposal offers ten thousand dollars per acre for the city's land. I am happy to know that Woodsonia has made an offer for the land that is plausible. I am convinced we got a serious offer because on March twenty-five, I told Woodsonia we were moving forward with the project. But I must say for much of our negotiations, best and final offers have meant we move forward a while and then regress. These tactics have prevented productive negotiations. No sports complex, no aquatic center, and no money in the bank for development. For instance, one provision gives Woodsonia the right to terminate all agreements with the city while still keeping all of the land and up to ten million dollars in cash payment before a single structure has risen from the dirt. Another provision allows Woodsodia to cancel the agreement if they find any condition on the land which is unacceptable to them in their sole discretion. In addition to Woodsonia insisting that it can terminate the agreement for any reason, Woodsonia has included provisions that specifically stops the city from forcing Woodsonia to build anything. Again, this allows Woodsonia to terminate the project and leave the citizens with no remedy and no development. That is not acceptable. The City Council is scheduled to discuss Woodsonia's latest offers at its May 12th meeting, open meeting of the City Council. I would encourage you to attend if you are interested. It is important to note there are financial barriers in the collection of the good life revenue. Since the state took over revenue collection from the city, the revenue has dropped significantly and become inconsistent, reducing the city's available bonding capacity for building the good life district. We have been told by the State Department of Revenue that it may take a year to see how the revenue collections stabilize. That's in their hands, not ours. The drop-off in revenue collected by the state keeps the city from meeting some of Woodsonia's funding request. We have encountered a lot of delay during our negotiations with Woodsonia. But we must deliver progress to the citizens. Consider the fact that Carney already has buildings in its Good Life District. And Bellevue broke ground for its Good Life District over one year ago. Our negotiations are making us lag behind with talking when we should be building.